My father used to beat us all the time. He hit me, my mother and my little brother with his hands, stones, sticks and a whip. He smoked opium and was addicted to drugs. When he didn’t have enough money for drugs he went crazy. Once when I was watering the vegetables, he grabbed me and shouted: ‘What are you doing here? You should be inside!’ He aimed his pistol at my head and said that he’d shoot me if I didn’t behave. I was shaking with fear,” says Fatima.

Father sold everything

Fatima’s family lived in a remote rural village, in a simple earthen house with high walls all round it. Fatima was sad and afraid all the time. She didn’t dare tell anyone what things were like at home. After all, her father had told her that he’d beat her to death if she did.

At school, Fatima was quiet all the time so she didn’t make friends in her class. The other students thought she was strange. At night Fatima had nightmares. Before falling asleep she would lie awake and imagine running away. She wished that she had a different father, a big, strong, kind father.

“My father only cared about finding money for opium. He got fired from his job. Then he sold all our kitchen utensils, pots, glasses and knives. Our uncle gave us a little bit of food, otherwise we would have starved. But sometimes my father even sold that food. I got headaches from hunger and couldn’t concentrate at school.”

A new life

Once, Fatima’s father tried to quit smoking opium. It went well at first. He managed to get a job and started to earn a bit of money. But soon he was fired again. He had started smoking again. “It was a disappointment. But the worst thing was when I saw my little brother, who was only 5, copy my father. My brother lit a reed and pretended to smoke it, as though it was an opium cigarette. I began to despair. Would he become like our father too? Would it never end?”

When Fatima’s father broke into her uncle Khan Wali’s house and stole money and a mobile phone, it was to be the last thing he did in the village. Her uncle gave him a good hiding. Then he took Fatima, her mother and her younger brother to his house. Fatima’s father was chased out of the village and a whole new life began for Fatima.

“It was like waking up from a nightmare. Nobody beat us and we could eat till we were full every day. I had a lot to catch up with in school and started to spend the afternoons studying at AIL’s Learning Center. I learned to read and write there, and I got over my shyness. My mother started to study there too. She had always been so sad, but she became happy. Now she has a job telling the women in the village how to look after their health.”

Fatima, 15

Interest: School, TV, music
Best friend: My cousin Nouria
Favorite fruit: Mango and melon
Wants to be: A lawyer
Dislikes: Drugs and war
Favorite thing: My new schoolbag
Look up to: My uncle, who thinks girls should study

Opium

Opium is a dangerous drug. It comes from poppies, a beautiful red flower that is grown in large fields in Afghanistan. Opium can be smoked or used to make heroin, which is injected with a needle. Anyone who takes the drug gets addicted and can only think about how to get more of it, not about how to get food for their families. Those who use it are mostly men. Afghan farmers grow opium because they are poor and can sell it for lots of money, not because they like drugs.

Text: Jesper Huor
Photos: Makan E-Rahmati