Afghanistan

Refugees and advocates ran or walked from George Washington University to Lincoln Memorial (approximately 2 miles) as part of an annual event in celebration of World Refugee Day. An Afghan family from Kabul seeking refuge in Frankfurt, Germany, would have to walk almost 4300 miles. That distance is the equivalent of walking from Boston, Massachusettes to San Diego, California, then up the West Coast past Seattle, Washington to the Canadian border.

We only had enough to get this far, here in Greece. Now we’re stuck.

​You have to have faith and trust in humanity.

I love to play soccer. I love to work and cook.

I look forward to having a calm life filled with great achievements.

I want to have a room with a bed and space to breathe.

My husband is raising our three daughters and our son in a camp in Greece without me.

We have had war in Afghanistan since before I was born

I am a lonely woman with two children.

Because I am almost fourteen and the oldest son, I am responsible for our family.

It was hard to be gay in my country. You can’t live as a [free] man.

I don’t want my children to live in war.

I graduated with a degree in journalism and joined the Afghan police force.

When I was old enough, I was forced to marry the head of our region.

We decided to leave and sold everything we had; there is no way back.

It gives me a bad feeling … that I am safe and my friends are still in trouble.

That’s why we came here—so they would not take him away from me.

We can’t go back. It is not safe for women there.

Their future is uncertain, and their past is gone forever.

My father and brother made it to Sweden; my mother and I are trapped in Greece.