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Diary Of An Afghan Woman Collection - September 2021

TSOS Interview Gallery

Four women share with us their daily lives in Afghanistan. Join them as they express their love for the country, the people, and each other; and as they share with you their deepest fears and most intimate moments.

They refuse to be silenced as they journey through this new, uncharted chapter in Afghanistan's history.

We at TSOS are honored to provide a platform for their voices to be heard. We will post entries as we receive them. For safety purposes, names have been changed and only avatars (designed with input from each woman) will be used.

ZOYA

Zoya is a …

Rafi & Patra, Rafi, Patra, Tsos

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Rafi and his family have been stuck on the border between Greece and Macedonia for almost four months. They made their way from Afghanistan, received certificates in Greece to help them on their journey, but were then stopped at the border of Macedonia. The Macedonians said that they were no longer allowing Afghans into their country. Now all they can do is wait and hope. In Afghanistan,Rafi was a military man. As a young man, he was a part of the Revolution army, but later was made a soldier for the Government Security of Kabul. During that time, he was …

Nicole Ludwig, Tsos, Nicole Ludwig

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In September 2016, Nicole Ludwig led a group of her neighbors in Germany to assist newly-arrived Syrian and Afghani refugees. The volunteers collected clothing and toys, organized activities and field trips for the refugee children, and taught them German. Later, the volunteers offered homework support and led library reading groups. For the adult refugees, the volunteers provided cultural assimilation instruction and cooking classes. While there were occasional challenges to working together, the volunteers and refugees fostered a collaborative system and even hosted a Christmas party, during which one elderly Syrian man said, “This is one of the best memories I …

Pamir And Rahila, Pamir, Rahila, Tsos

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Pamir is from Afghanistan. He is a Hazarah, an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan. The Taliban hates his people. Nearly every member of his family has bullet wounds and war scars. His father was shot during the Mujahedin War and still has bullets in his leg. His older brother is blind in one eye and is still in Iran. His other brother was shot in the head and killed somewhere between the age of thirteen and fifteen. They escaped to Iran from Afghanistan, but the police caught Pamir and took him to a camp. They told him he could either …

Morena, Morena, Tsos

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Morena has two children and a husband, and she is currently pregnant. Her life in Afghanistan felt normal, and she was able to study there until she had to flee. Her father in law was a truck driver for an American company and he had to surrender several vehicles to the Taliban. They robbed his vehicle and threatened violence. Because of this danger, Morena and her family fled. Their eight-month journey included rejection in Turkey and Iran multiple times and many struggles with smugglers and police. They eventually made it to a camp in Greece.

Because Morena is pregnant, they …

Tabish, Tabish, Tsos

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Tabish is from Afghanistan. He fled the country because he had enemies there. He was shot multiple times during a Taliban raid, resulting in a broken leg and damaged hand. The bullets had to be pulled out with a stick. He and his family fled Afghanistan to Iran where the police threatened to arrest him for not having the legal papers to work. His family escaped to Turkey but were soon deported back to Iran. They eventually made it through after walking on foot for seven hours at the Turkish border. After spending five hours on the water on the …

Nevin, Nevin, Tsos

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Nevin is a civil engineer from Afghanistan who worked with an American company and local government. The Taliban threatened him and demanded he work for them instead and ultimately attacked him on his journey home. After this he began a dangerous journey to Europe full of smugglers, trafficking, encounters with police, poor living conditions and a trip across the Mediterranean in an overcrowded raft.

Nevin ultimately made it to Greece, where he lived in a camp for several months. He received medical care but faced new problems of closed borders and difficulty obtaining papers. He was transferred to a camp …

Ilhan & Family, Ilhan, Tsos

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Ilhan, his wife Nura, and their children resided near Kabul, in a region where both the Taliban and ISIS were active. As Shias, Ilhan’s family faced numerous menaces, including threatsfrom ISIS that they would be beheaded if they did not display ISIS flags. Ilhan’s sister Radwa, who is deaf and mute, was forced to marry a regional leader. In addition to being threatened on religious grounds, Ilhan’s family was also threatened by anelder of their town. Out of desperation, Ilhan’s family sold their house appliances, escaped Afghanistan, and arrived at the Oinofyta refugee campin Greece. Ilhan’s family fled with Radwa, …

Hamed, Hamed, Tsos

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Hamed and his family are from Afghanistan where he worked as a diplomat and interpreter for the U.S. Army after having studied international relations and diplomacy. As the situation with the Taliban worsened it became too dangerous for Hamed and his family to stay in Afghanistan. They began the difficult journey with the help of smugglers, first to Iran, then Turkey, and then to Greece in a dangerous, overfilled boat.

Hamed explains the despair and frustration faced by many refugees. They feel as though very little is actually done for refugees once they’re admitted, and explains they need more assistance. …

Zurvan, Zurvan, Tsos

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Zurvan and his family had a good life in Afghanistan. He worked as a clerk in a spice shop. After doing business with a foreign company, the Taliban threatened him with death. To escape this threat, he and his family escaped to Iran and hired a smuggler to get them to Turkey. From there, they traveled to Greece in an overloaded boat. They have been living in a camp in Greece, stuck in limbo, ever since. Zurvan feels hopeless, like everyone in the camp is being treated in an inhumane manner. He also feels guilty for bringing his children into …

Salman, Salman, Tsos

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Salman and his family are from Afghanistan, where he worked as a doctor. He worked for fifteen years for a mining institute, and before that he worked in various hospitals with Americans and Germans for another combined 15 years. The family ran into problems with the Taliban, who threatened violence if he didn’t close his drugstore. During that same time, his son witnessed a suicide bombing at his school. Their daughter was forced to abandon her education when the Taliban poisoned the water at her school. They fled in attempts to live a normal life again and escape the threats …

Bilal, Bilal, Tsos

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Bilal was 23 years old when he drowned in Greece. He was cheerful, intelligent, and full of energy.

He was a journalist in Afghanistan who received a death threat from the Taliban. His family decided that he should flee the country alone for survival since they couldn’t afford for the whole family to go.

He escaped from the camp in Moria by finding a hole in the fence. He outran the police, found a ship in port, and jumped on it as it was leaving. He later had 10 unsuccessful attempts to leave Greece for Germany. He was caught by …

Emal, Emal, Tsos

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Emal was a gate security guard in the Afghan army and a supplier for American forces at the airport. Before leaving Afghanistan, Emal was kidnapped by Daesh, beaten, thrown into a pile of bodies, and left for dead. He woke up weeks later in hospital with adent in his skull, brain damage, and mental/emotional problems. When he was able, Emal fled with his wife and six kids, but they travelled with smugglers in separate cars and got separated. Iran police deported his wife and children back to Afghanistan. Emal continued on and eventually made his way to Oinofyta refugee camp …

Aarash, Aarash, Tsos

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As an anti-corruption journalist in Afghanistan, Aarash’s family’s life was threatened by warlords. His car was shot at, their guesthouse was bombed, and later when they were threatened at gunpoint, they tried to make a new life in India. But in India, they discovered difficulties in obtaining permanent visas so they had return to Kabul where they hid at a friend’s house for 20 days while obtaining documentation to flee to Turkey. Once in Turkey, they learned that Afghan registries had been closed since 2010. They determined that they needed to either apply for asylum in Turkey or leave for …