The long run

Aqela's story

Aqela, twenty-nine years old, waits for us on the street. She wears a black coat and a long black skirt. A black scarf leaves uncovered only her wonderful blue eyes. We walk with her down a street too narrow and steep for cars. We cross a gate and two small courtyards, and then we slip into a room. The room is gloomy. The red carpet on the floor is worn out. A mezzanine barely allows you to stand. There is only one window, very small, hidden by the curtains. A neon light makes the faces and her story more heartbreaking.

È stata costretta a sposarsi ancora bambina con un uomo più anziano, tossicodipendente e violento. È rimasta incinta del primo figlio a dodici anni, ha partorito a tredici. Altri due bambini li ha persi, morti prima di nascere.

She attended school only until fourth grade. She kept on studying autonomously and succeeded in earning the degree that allowed her to be admitted to the police academy. After that, she was hired by the Afghan special forces. Aqela’s husband didn’t want her to work and ordered her to stop. Aqela, however, had children to support and she loved her job.

One day he brutally beat her, leaving her with a broken nose. She shows us photos proving that. The children sitting on the floor next to her stiffen up. The older one, sixteen years old, grabs the photos and hides them.

I endured my husband's violent abuse without fighting back to prevent him from hurting the kids as well. When he broke my nose and my face, I understood that he would have ended up killing me eventually and that no one else would have defended my children anymore. At that moment, I reported him and asked for a divorce.

Aqela’s husband fled to Iran to escape arrest. Aqela feared that he would return and avenge the charges against him. So, she hid, moved house, changed neighbourhoods, quit her job and stopped sending her children to school.

After two years of being on the run, her husband returned. He went to Aqela's family, asking where she was. They didn’t tell him, so he killed them. He killed her father and her brother. Aqela's mother was injured but she survived. He was then arrested. However, when the Taliban took over, they freed all the prisoners, including her husband, who began to hunt her down again after he regained freedom.

Aqela was desperate and starving when she found NOVE.

We gave her shelter, food and everything she needed. Aqela and her children managed to get to Pakistan. Even there, however, Aqela was in danger as her husband could find her. Thanks to one of the last human corridors, Aqela eventually managed to take a flight to Italy. Now she lives in Bari with her children.

Finally, she is safe.