November 2023 Student Spotlight: Husnia Ahmadzai
Husnia was born in Afghanistan and came to the United States in January 2022 with her husband and four children. She is studying business administration and joined MCC in January 2023. She hopes her children never face anything in their lives like she has. Also, she is happy that her children have a bright future and are doing well in school.
Endings & Beginnings
The most important goal of humanitarian laws is to create an atmosphere of security and peace for citizens. People know very well that the most important gift that comes to a nation in the light of observance of the law is security, prosperity, comfort, and the realization of right and justice. Today in societies, security is considered a kind of blessing. Unfortunately, the Afghan nation never had this blessing.
If we knew what problems and threats we were going to face, we could equip ourselves with the right tools to overcome anything that threatened our chances of success. We could turn an obstacle as big as mountains into a hill. My husband, my four children, and I had an incredibly happy life with high living standards and facilities. Our income was more than our expenses. In April 2018, suddenly a storm of destitution surrounded us, and we lost everything. We had to leave our homeland empty handed.
I was in the kitchen, preparing dinner when suddenly I heard a loud knock at our door. The gate of the apartment where we lived had a camera because my husband had been threatened several times before, so we were extremely cautious. When I glanced at the screen, I saw several men standing behind the gate with angry faces. All of them were holding guns. For a moment, I was thinking that our lives were over. Even though my husband was at home, he was hidden in a clothes closet. I told those men in a trembling and apologetic voice that my husband had not come home for a week, and I had no idea where he was.
What was the reason for all this misery? My husband is a civil engineer. In Afghanistan, he owned a construction company, and it was the prime contractor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the United States government. They had contracts for the construction of U.S. Army compounds in Afghanistan, and the reconstruction and security upgrading of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. He served with the U.S. government for twelve years, and for this reason, the Taliban considered him and his colleagues to be their enemies.
My husband had been attacked by the Taliban several times, and one of those attacks was in May 2017, near the U.S. compound in Kabul, where my husband had a contract for security upgrading. More than a thousand people were killed and wounded in that explosion. My husband was injured. According to the Taliban’s law, those who worked with the U.S. government must be killed. Isn't it cruel, that a person should be threatened to death and lose everything in his life because of his high education and honest performance of his duty?
When the Taliban found our house, and they reached behind our gate, my husband and I concluded, that if we stayed longer, they might kill all of us. It was the time to make a smart plan to escape. Finally, the only option we had was to move to India because when my husband had been injured in the 2017 explosion, we had gone to India for his treatment for about two months. Therefore, we already had a valid visa for India.
When we were ready to leave, my husband told me, "Listen carefully, if the Taliban catches me on the way to the airport, don’t look back, don’t think about me. I am already done, so please take my kids out of this hell.” Although tears were flowing from my eyes, I was trying to be strong and give hope to my husband that we would make it. In fact, every day that passed felt like a long year, and we both were counting the moments of those unforgettable days like those who are waiting to be released from prison. The Taliban were prowling around our apartment, and they were waiting for my husband to return home, as I mentioned to them that he was not at home.
On May 2, 2018, the day when we had to go to the airport, our bodies were shaking from the fear of death. We packed two pairs of clothes for each of us, and we had a small amount of money and some jewelry that my husband had bought for me at our wedding. My father and my sister’s husband came to our house. The parking of the apartment where we lived was in the basement of the building. We went to the parking lot by lift. We sat in my sister’s husband’s car. He was driving, and my father sat next to my husband, so that no one would notice that he had left the house or was even at home.
My children's eyes were shining like stars, and I noticed innocent smiles on their lips. I felt that they were hoping for a better future. In contrast, our hearts were beating as fast as the car was moving. I was praying and apologizing to God to help us because I do not have such a strong heart to bear the loss of my loved ones in front of my eyes. It was difficult for our kids to understand how stressed their parents were.
Finally, we got to the airport, and when I was saying goodbye to my father, the words that hurt me every moment were what I heard from him. He said, “My dear daughter, always remember that I love you with all my heart, but the philosophy of my life is like a shepherd who leads other’s cattle to the pasture during the day and returns home empty handed in the evening.” My father was crying like a child as if someone took his best toy away from him. My brother and sisters had left Afghanistan before me, and my mom had passed away. I was the only one with whom my father used to share his sorrow and joys, and now I was also leaving him.
My father said, “I am old, I have no hope of seeing you again. I pray for all of you to be happy, and your children will never leave you because the sadness of being away from your children is a sore wound in the heart of a father that cannot be healed.” I left my father alone and we moved on. I had no choice. My father was standing behind us, with a weak heart and crying eyes until I disappeared from his eyes. We entered the terminal, and after waiting for an hour, the plane took off. Finally, we were saved from the certain death.
ESOL Voices is a collection of stories written by ESOL students at Monroe Community College. This publication highlights our MCC students who come from all over the world. Look for new stories in the Tribune. We hope you enjoy our students’ stories as much as we do.
Pamela Fornieri & Bridget Dee, ESOL Program, November 2023