“My father is having higher education, but I saw him working in repugnant places.” Pari a young married lady returned to Afghanistan after a long time living in Pakistan. Her father was working as an officer with the Afghan National Army before their emigration. When the Afghan civil war begun, they were living in Nangarhar and life for ex-government officers became difficult. It was chaos in the country, and the people who were working for government were called communists. Her father was part of the government entity, therefore he decided to leave his job, home, everything he had and move to Pakistan.
They started an arduous journey to Pakistan by feet due to the lack of vehicles available on the way. She added that “I saw dead bodies and burned houses, but we kept walking in order to save our lives and find a safe place for living.”
During her journey she was obsessed with questions coming to her mind. “What if I face the same situation? What if we lose our lives on the way instead of saving our lives? What if they rape me? Thousands of such questions were circulating through her mind.
After a day of walking over the slippery mountains by feet, they reached the Swatt valley in Pakistan. They settled in a temporary camp that was already built for Afghan refugees by international organizations. There were tents in refugees’ camp for hundreds of families.
Pari’s father decided to rent a house that was built by a refugee inside the camp. “That was the time when I really felt homeless. The house was small and in a bad shape.”
After a short time, Pari’s father found a job in brick factory as a laborer. The work in brick factory was exhausting and unendurable for her father; Pari’s father moved to Peshawar and started working there.
In Peshawar Pari went to school up to 4th grade but then, due to a family problem she couldn’t continue. She got married and started her new life.
After several years living Pakistan, The government set a time for Afghan refugees to move back to their own country. The scope of life for afghan migrants in Pakistan was changing, and Pari’s father was also affected from these new resentments. Many refugees started to fight, because they did not want to return back to their own country as they didn’t want to start everything from the beginning again in Afghanistan, but they had no choice.
With all the uncertainty and worries Pari’s family decided to return.
After returning to Nangarhar, Pari and her family went to their village. Their house and farm was burned and destroyed during the war.
She added, “I was really not happy. I was feeling regret, and was experiencing the same feeling I had at the first year of being as refugee in Pakistan.”
She wanted to continue her education, go to school, and get a university degree. She discussed it with her family, and the family still could not decide.
Pari continued life without education, but she still is hoping for the day, when she gets the chance to continue her studies. “I feel empty without education,” says Pari. “It is due to emigration that I could not continue my studies.”