Folks fleeing violence and persecution might be haunted by their traumas for a very long time, even after they’ve discovered security in a new place. And youngsters are notably weak. Rhitu Chatterjee has the story of a boy who fled Afghanistan and has lately settled in Maine.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
When individuals who fled violence and persecution come to a brand new nation as refugees, the toll of what they’ve skilled can hang-out them for a very long time, even after they’re bodily secure. Kids are particularly weak. NPR’s Rhitu Chatterjee has a narrative of a boy and his household who fled Afghanistan and who are actually settled within the U.S.
RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: Whats up.
MUJIB UR RAHMAN: Whats up. How are you at present, good?
CHATTERJEE: I am good. How are you?
MUJIB: I am good.
CHATTERJEE: My identify is Rhitu.
MUJIB: My identify is Mujib.
CHATTERJEE: Good to fulfill you, Mujib.
I meet 12-year-old Mujib Ur Rahman at his new residence – a small, sparsely furnished house in Lewiston, Maine. He moved right here in January along with his dad and mom and an older brother. The brothers grew up in Afghanistan’s third-largest metropolis, Herat, the place they’ve a home with a giant backyard the place they grew vegatables and fruits. Mujib remembers spending many of the summer time evenings doing the factor he cherished most.
MUJIB: (Via interpreter) After I got here residence from college, I’d play with kites on the roof of my home.
CHATTERJEE: Typically collaborating in kite preventing, a beloved custom in Afghanistan the place folks attempt to reduce others’ kite strings with their very own and set the others’ kite free. Mujib beams as he brags about how most of his neighbors feared his kite-fighting expertise.
MUJIB: (Via interpreter) After they noticed me flying kites, they might take down their kites. There was one who rivaled my talent. I may by no means free his kite. We had been in competitors.
CHATTERJEE: However life as Mujib knew it got here to a halt in 2021 when the Taliban took management of the nation.
MUJIB: (Via interpreter) They did quite a lot of scary issues proper in entrance of individuals’s eyes – for instance, hitting and stabbing folks with knives. I believed they might come to my residence and arrest me and beat me too.
CHATTERJEE: Mujib’s mom, Khadija Rahmani, labored as a nurse and ladies’s rights advocate. A part of her job was to determine an advocate for women and girls who had been pressured into marriage or had been victims of home violence. And that made her a goal for the Taliban.
KHADIJA RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) They searched our residence a number of instances. And I went to neighbor’s home to cover. They had been looking my home and ruined all my stuff, our beds, garments. They destroyed all the pieces.
CHATTERJEE: So she, her husband and her two youthful sons, Mujib and his then 17-year-old brother, Munib, stayed in hiding at a relative’s home, continually weary.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) We did not sleep on a regular basis. We had been scared. When there was any noise, we had been pondering tips on how to run from residence. For instance, if the Taliban got here from this aspect, how may we leap over the wall and run?
CHATTERJEE: Lastly, in 2023, they obtained permission to go away the nation along with her two youngest sons. Earlier this 12 months, they arrived in Lewiston, Maine, a metropolis now residence to some resettled communities, together with Somali and Bhutanese. With assist from the local people, the Rahmanis discovered their rental house in a three-story New England home.
RAHMANI: (Non-English language spoken).
CHATTERJEE: Serving cardamom-flavored tea and dried apricot and almonds in a lounge, Khadija says she’s grateful to be right here.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) We thank God a thousand instances that we are able to begin our life anew right here.
CHATTERJEE: However the power stress of the previous few years nonetheless haunts them.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) My husband and I stayed awake till 1:30 to 2 or 3 o’clock at evening as a result of I nonetheless have that trauma from Taliban’s regime in my mind.
CHATTERJEE: And 12-year-old Mujib has struggled essentially the most. Khadija says he is simply triggered by sudden noises.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) He will get pale. His respiratory will get exhausting. He panics and tries to expire of the home. As soon as there was a knock on the door, and he began crying. His face turned yellow.
CHATTERJEE: She says college has additionally stuffed him with anxiousness.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) He mentioned to me, Mom, I do not need to go to high school. Everybody’s bullying me. I do not like this college. I do not perceive the language, and I do not perceive in any respect.
CHATTERJEE: And that is to be anticipated, says Theresa Betancourt.
THERESA BETANCOURT: The responses that you simply see in a younger boy like that, these are expectable whenever you’ve been by way of the kind of scary, traumatic occasions that he is been by way of.
CHATTERJEE: Betancourt directs the analysis program on youngsters and adversity at Boston School.
BETANCOURT: We all know from years of analysis now that youngsters uncovered to violence, separation and loss on account of armed battle and compelled migration have elevated dangers for issues with melancholy, anxiousness, traumatic stress reactions and even challenges with belief and social interactions.
CHATTERJEE: She says youngsters who’ve misplaced a guardian or been separated from them endure essentially the most. However it may be tough for youths like Mujib too, as a result of their dad and mom are sometimes struggling as effectively.
BETANCOURT: Mother and father might really feel stigma in mentioning their very own struggles with issues like melancholy or anxiousness, and so they could also be involved about discussing their kid’s emotional, behavioral issues too.
CHATTERJEE: They usually’re overwhelmed as they attempt to adapt to a brand new nation, similar to Mujib’s dad and mom.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) And I actively searching for work, so we are able to have the cash to run the household.
CHATTERJEE: Khadija and her husband lately received part-time jobs at a FedEx packaging facility. She needs to work as a nurse once more, however she must be fluent in English first.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) We’ve got to be taught this language, as a result of we now have a tough time not understanding the language.
CHATTERJEE: Regardless of their very own stress, Khadija and her husband have been making an attempt to assist Mujib. She tries to spice up Mujib’s confidence so he feels higher about going to high school.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) To encourage him, I say nobody is healthier than you. Nobody is extra good-looking than you.
CHATTERJEE: She’s been making an attempt to assist along with his English classes and reassuring him that they’re secure right here. However she says he is nonetheless hypervigilant.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) He found out that this home has two exits. One among them is for escaping.
CHATTERJEE: In case somebody breaks in. However he has made progress in the direction of settling into his new life. Mujib says he is beginning to take pleasure in college.
MUJIB: (Via interpreter) I like studying English. I like taking part in soccer. I additionally just like the health club. I like all types of issues.
CHATTERJEE: He is even made new buddies, a giant step on this main transition. However he is nonetheless homesick.
MUJIB: (Via interpreter) The very first thing that I miss is our backyard, the remainder of my household, my land, my residence and my canine.
CHATTERJEE: Greater than something, he misses flying kites, a lot that he generally even cries about it.
Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR Information.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUSTAF LJUNGGREN’S “LEADING SOMEWHERE”)
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content is probably not in its ultimate kind and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability might differ. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.
