Folks fleeing violence and persecution could be haunted by their traumas for a very long time, even after they’ve discovered security in a new place. And youngsters are notably susceptible. Rhitu Chatterjee has the story of a boy who fled Afghanistan and has lately settled in Maine.
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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 protected. Kids are particularly susceptible. 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 in the present day, 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 residence 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 an enormous backyard the place they grew vegatables and fruits. Mujib remembers spending a lot of the summer season 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 taking part in kite preventing, 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 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 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: (Via interpreter) They did a whole 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 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: (Via interpreter) They searched our residence a number of occasions. And I went to neighbor’s home to cover. They have been looking out 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 have been scared. When there was any noise, we have been considering run from residence. For instance, if the Taliban got here from this facet, how may we bounce over the wall and run?
CHATTERJEE: Lastly, in 2023, they obtained permission to depart the nation along 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 local people, the Rahmanis discovered their rental residence 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 occasions 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 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 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 crammed him with nervousness.
RAHMANI: (Via 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 the form of horrifying, traumatic occasions that he is been by.
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, nervousness, traumatic stress reactions and even challenges with belief and social interactions.
CHATTERJEE: She says youngsters who’ve misplaced a father or mother or been separated from them endure essentially the most. However it may be troublesome for teenagers like Mujib too, as a result of their mother and father are sometimes struggling as nicely.
BETANCOURT: Dad and mom might 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, similar to Mujib’s mother and father.
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 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: (Via interpreter) Now we have to be taught this language, as a result of now we have a tough time not figuring out 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 highschool.
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 together with his English classes and reassuring him that they’re protected right here. However she says he is nonetheless hypervigilant.
RAHMANI: (Via interpreter) He discovered that this home has two exits. Certainly one of 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 get pleasure from college.
MUJIB: (Via interpreter) I like studying English. I like taking part in soccer. I additionally just like the gymnasium. I like all types of issues.
CHATTERJEE: He is even made new associates, an enormous 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 typically even cries about it.
Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR Information.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUSTAF LJUNGGREN’S “LEADING SOMEWHERE”)
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