The solution is not to die. Laleh’s story.

Laleh is a graceful girl, small in stature, with a sad if not desperate expression. Three years ago her husband died in an explosion. They searched for the body without finding any evidence of it. Since then, she has been left alone with her children: a girl aged ten, a boy aged nine and a girl aged four.

"After my husband's death, I got by doing odd jobs in other families' homes. Some fled when the Taliban arrived. Others became poor. Now it is very difficult to find work”..

The last thing she did was wash carpets. The money she earned soon ran out. She no longer had enough to buy food.
But that is not the worst of it. In her own family, there are no men and she had almost no relationship with her husband's relatives. Her mother-in-law had emigrated to Iran and sent nothing, not even for the children. Some people insulted her because she was alone and without a man to protect her. They implied she should remarry to gain security for herself and her children.

Laleh asked her neighbors and the district chief for help in vain. The only one who came forward was a distant relative of her husband who asked her to marry him. He was 70 years old and Laleh refused. "He is too old and not
a good person'.She did not give up, but shortly afterwards this relative returned with two armed men and threatened her saying, 'If you don't marry me, I will take away your son, the youngest one”.

"I was so desperate that I thought of selling my baby to get some money and run away with the other two. But my heart wouldn't let me do it. The only solution was to die"she said when NOVE's president first met her in the hut where, terrified, she was in hiding. "See that wood on the ceiling? I will hang myself there"she said, her calm, monotone words turning into silent sobs. Under the horrified stares of her children, she continued, “I've been thinking about it for days. When you phoned to meet me I said to myself, --I am waiting for these foreigners to come. If they really help people, they will take care of my children. You will, you promise?".

NOVE included Laleh in the Dignity project. She moved with her children to a safe place where the relative who had been threatening her could not find her. There she received food, medicine and everything she needed. She enrolled her children in school.
Eventually she took a course to become a beautician. This will enable her to work at home and have a small income to support her family.

Laleh and her children have finally started living again.

Nove ha incontrato Laleh a Kabul nel marzo 2022 e l’ha inserita nel progetto Dignity ad aprile 2022.

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