Dayna Curry

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Dayna Curry (born November 4, 1971) is an American citizen, who was held a prisoner by Taliban government of Afghanistan in 2001.

Curry was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1989, she graduated from Brentwood High and went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas. A social work major, Dayna volunteered at the Waco Center for Youth ( a residential facility treats teenagers with emotional and behavioral problems) while she was attending Baylor. After graduation, Curry took a job as a social worker at a high school for troubled teens in Waco.

Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer got to know each other in Waco when they both joined the Antioch Community Church, an evangelical, non-denominational church.

In 2001, Curry and Heather Mercer, along with four German and two Australian aid workers were arrested with them. The aid workers, who were employed by the German based Shelter Now International, were arrested in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 3, 2001 by the ruling Taliban regime. They were charged with preaching Christianity in the strict Islamic state. The two were visiting a private home in Kabul when they were arrested. The Taliban, which forbid foreigners from visiting local homes, allege that the two women went beyond their activities with helping the needy and began spreading the Christian gospel, a crime under Taliban law. The women had been showing the Jesus film.

A joint trial for the imprisoned aid workers began September 1 in Kabul. At first, it appeared that their punishment might be minor, a short time in prison followed by expulsion from the country. Then came the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. Their trial was suspended, and their relatives were ordered out of Kabul. After more than three months of confinement in Taliban prisons they were freed from their cells November 15, 2001.