ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN)  -- In Pakistan's combustible Swat Valley, some girls refuse to wear uniforms so they can make it to school without being harmed. Shiza Shahid, left, a 20-year-old Stanford University student, is helping to teach young girls in Pakistan. Other girls hide textbooks in their shawls to escape harassment. School-age girls are among the victims in the fierce fighting between government soldiers and Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. The Pakistani government said it has flushed much of the Taliban out of the area, but some fighting persists. Many girls remain banned from schools. Dozens of their schools have been bombed, and militants have burned books.
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Schoolgirls victims of fighting between Pakistani soldiers and Taliban in Swat Valley
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A retreat in Islamabad gives 26 girls a safe haven to learn
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A student from Stanford University is helping lead the retreat
A group of college students of @placeholder background is helping the girls.