A Mother in a New Country
My name is Nazanin. I’m from Afghanistan, and my city is Kabul.
My father died from illness. My husband was killed by the Taliban, and my brother too.
All of my family is in Afghanistan. I am the only one here with my four kids. They are fifteen, fourteen, twelve, and nine years old. Remembering when I could see my family makes me happy, like my mom and my brother. That’s what makes me more happy.
All of my kids like the schools here. But my oldest son doesn’t like his school anymore, and he has some mental health problems. We went to a primary care provider and the doctor referred us to a psychiatrist. We now have an appointment for my son.
It’s very hard being a mother in a new country.
Our reality now is that we are happy. We are here and we are safe. But we still face challenges and problems.
It was very tough and challenging for me in the beginning. I came here without speaking the language, without knowing others, without knowing how to solve our problems or how to take the bus. It was a challenge. When I got my license, it solved some of the problems. Driving is good for a person like myself. But the other challenge is that I’m still a single mom, taking care of four kids — that’s the difficult part for me.
I am working in a hotel doing housekeeping. It’s a little bit of a hard job. I wake up from sleep at 5:00 a.m. to prepare my kids to go to school. I take care of everything at home and then I go to work, which starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. It’s a lot.
I’m happy because I'm safe here. My hope and dream is for my kids to complete their education.
I want for them to go to college and university, and for my daughter to become a doctor here.
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