Saturday 21 August 2021

A message from Kabul

came through on the email this morning. It was addressed to several of us and was smuggled out by someone who has been fortunate enough to be able to leave.

It came from someone I have never met and am never likely to meet. My only contact with her has been because she was working in another part of the country and needed some communication device assistance. She was sent to Kabul in the belief that she would be safe there - and she is not safe.

I really don't know where to start with something like this. Here is a good woman who was teaching young girls with disabilities in her own home. It was just a small group. Her family supported her in this. Her husband had even helped to build some of the very basic equipment she was using. 

About a week ago her husband was murdered by the Taliban. Because he could speak French and English the Taliban believed he was a spy for the Americans. M.... also knows French and English and, had she returned home that morning, she would also be dead. A family friend alerted her to what had happened and then helped her leave for Kabul. People thought Kabul was going to be safe. 

Kabul is not safe. If she is caught she will be killed. That is something she does not doubt. Her French contacts are doing what they can but the reality is that she will not be able to leave.

Although I have never met her this makes me feel physically ill. Here is a teacher who wanted to give a small group some hope, someone who simply wanted to give something to a small group of girls who would have been disadvantaged anywhere. It might not seem like much with all that is going on there right now but for M... it is everything. 

The Taliban have not changed. Their press conferences are meaningless. People like M... are being left with no hope.

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