How one household of Afghan refugees is adjusting to their new life in Maine : NPR

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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. Youngsters are particularly susceptible. NPR’s Rhitu Chatterjee has a narrative of a boy and his household who fled Afghanistan and who at the moment are settled within the U.S.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: Hi there.

MUJIB UR RAHMAN: Hi there. How are you right now, 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 satisfy you, Mujib.

I meet 12-year-old Mujib Ur Rahman at his new residence – a small, sparsely furnished condominium in Lewiston, Maine. He moved right here in January together with his mother and father 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 fruit and veggies. Mujib remembers spending a lot of the summer time evenings doing the factor he liked most.

MUJIB: (By means of interpreter) After I got here residence from college, I’d play with kites on the roof of my home.

CHATTERJEE: Typically collaborating in kite combating, a beloved custom in Afghanistan the place folks attempt to minimize 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 abilities.

MUJIB: (By means of interpreter) After they noticed me flying kites, they’d take down their kites. There was one who rivaled my talent. I might by no means free his kite. We have 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: (By means of interpreter) They did lots of scary issues proper in entrance of individuals’s eyes – for instance, hitting and stabbing folks with knives. I believed they’d come to my residence and arrest me and beat me too.

CHATTERJEE: Mujib’s mom, Khadija Rahmani, labored as a nurse and girls’s rights advocate. A part of her job was to establish an advocate for women and girls who have been pressured into marriage or have been victims of home violence. And that made her a goal for the Taliban.

KHADIJA RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) They searched our residence a number of occasions. And I went to neighbor’s home to cover. They have been looking my home and ruined all my stuff, our beds, garments. They destroyed every little thing.

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, continuously weary.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) We did not sleep on a regular basis. We have been scared. When there was any noise, we have been pondering methods to run from residence. For instance, if the Taliban got here from this aspect, how might we bounce over the wall and run?

CHATTERJEE: Lastly, in 2023, they acquired permission to go away the nation together with her two youngest sons. Earlier this yr, they arrived in Lewiston, Maine, a metropolis now residence to a couple resettled communities, together with Somali and Bhutanese. With assist from the area people, the Rahmanis discovered their rental condominium 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: (By means of interpreter) We thank God a thousand occasions that we are able to begin our life anew right here.

CHATTERJEE: However the persistent stress of the previous few years nonetheless haunts them.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) My husband and I stayed awake till 1:30 to 2 or 3 o’clock at night time as a result of I nonetheless have that trauma from Taliban’s regime in my mind.

CHATTERJEE: And 12-year-old Mujib has struggled probably the most. Khadija says he is simply triggered by sudden noises.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) He will get pale. His respiration 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 nervousness.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) He stated to me, Mom, I do not wish to go to highschool. 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 just see in a younger boy like that, these are expectable once you’ve been by means of the form of scary, traumatic occasions that he is been by means of.

CHATTERJEE: Betancourt directs the analysis program on youngsters and adversity at Boston Faculty.

BETANCOURT: We all know from years of analysis now that youngsters uncovered to violence, separation and loss as a consequence of armed battle and compelled migration have elevated dangers for issues with melancholy, nervousness, 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 probably the most. However it may be troublesome for youths like Mujib too, as a result of their mother and father are sometimes struggling as nicely.

BETANCOURT: Mother and father could really feel stigma in mentioning their very own struggles with issues like melancholy or nervousness, 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, identical to Mujib’s mother and father.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) And I actively on the lookout for work, so we are able to have the cash to run the household.

CHATTERJEE: Khadija and her husband lately bought part-time jobs at a FedEx packaging facility. She desires to work as a nurse once more, however she must be fluent in English first.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) We now have to be taught this language, as a result of we’ve got a tough time not realizing the language.

CHATTERJEE: Regardless of their very own stress, Khadija and her husband have been making an attempt to help Mujib. She tries to spice up Mujib’s confidence so he feels higher about going to highschool.

RAHMANI: (By means of interpreter) To inspire him, I say nobody is best than you. Nobody is extra good-looking than you.

CHATTERJEE: She’s been making an attempt to assist together with his English classes and reassuring him that they’re secure right here. However she says he is nonetheless hypervigilant.

RAHMANI: (By means of 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: (By means of interpreter) I like studying English. I like taking part in soccer. I additionally just like the fitness center. I like all types of issues.

CHATTERJEE: He is even made new associates, a giant step on this main transition. However he is nonetheless homesick.

MUJIB: (By means of 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 typically even cries about it.

Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR Information.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUSTAF LJUNGGREN’S “LEADING SOMEWHERE”)

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