By Jane Tafel | Managing Director, Hagar USA
Not long ago Tahmina*, a 16-year-old girl, was living quite happily with her mother, father and sister in a southern Afghan village. Unjustly accused of having an affair, Tahmina was punished for the crime. With the help of her father and sister, she was able to escape and found refuge at Hagar. Her journey continues as she finds hope and renewed value. Here is her story, in her words:
I didn’t have an affair. But that didn’t matter. There was a sham trial, a false conviction, and a brutal flogging.
But not for the man who accused me, or the man accused along with me. They both went home unharmed. I was the one who went home in agony.
And it wasn’t just once. They came back again the next day. I fled, but the welts came with me—along with the anger. It was so injust.
When I first got to Hagar, even though I was safe, I picked fights. I was so bored and alone.
But that was only at first. Now, I am so grateful to be learning new things. Now I am being trained and am remembering that I have value—because my trainers value me as a person. With the training, I know I'll be able to get a job and support myself. I know that soon I will be free to live a better life.
When you support this project -- Transform Lives of Afghanistan's Most Forgotten -- you bring hope and better futures to more women like Tahmina.
*not her real name
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
