Zubaida was in the ninth year of her life. She was one of eight children and two parents that made up her nomadic family. Together, they traveled from place to place. She and the rest of her family are originally from the region of Farah in Afghanistan. During the month of August in 2001, Zubaida was heating up an inside home cooking burner with kerosene as she poured it in. The gasoline caught fire, and she quickly caught on fire as a result. Her face, neck, chest, and arms were all badly burned in the incident. Her father transported her to a neighboring medical provider as soon as the blaze was put out, and there, she was treated with several ointments. As the severity of her health continued to increase, her father made the decision to take her to Iran for medical care. She was hospitalized to a hospital in Iran for a period of twenty days, after which she was released from the facility. The physicians there advised her father to bring her back home so that she might pass away there. Although Zubaida did not pass away as a consequence of her injuries, she was left with a horrific deformity, major functional disability, and a severely damaged sense of self-esteem.