In 2007, Women for Afghan Women opened a shelter in Mazar-e-Sharef. One of our first employees there was a mom in her late 30s, Semin. She had been residing in our shelter in Kabul with her three children. Semin graduated from Kabul high school in 1989 and went on to be employed in a local vocational school. Over the next 10 years, she advanced in her job and met a very nice professional young man, Rateb. He was employed as a traffic policeman. She met his family and they approved of her. She found them respectable and looked forward to being included by them. Semin and Rateb became engaged and married in 1999. Their future appeared promising. Both were mature and educated professionals. The early years of Semin's marriage were happy. She and Rateb had three children. Living in Afghanistan under Taliban rule became increasingly difficult for Semin. She was no longer allowed to work and feared for her daughters' future now that girls were being denied an education. She and Rateb decided to leave and emigrated to Iran. They lived there happily for five years but were homesick and wanted to help rebuild their native country. The Iranian Baloch tribe attacked the family on the border of Iran and Afghanistan as they tried to return home. All their money and possessions were stolen. In addition, Rateb was badly beaten and sustained major head injuries. Once back in Kabul, Rateb's mental health deteriorated. The family was in economic distress and Rateb could not find employment. The psychological stress of the family's reality along with the seemingly-endless war and violence in the region exacerbated Rateb's brain trauma and he became irrational and violent. "That was the end of my happiness and the start of my misfortune," Semin says. Rateb set the family's clothes and possessions on fire, poured all the cooked food in the garbage claiming it was poison, stopped using the car and forced the family to walk long distances. He beat Semin and the children constantly, and forbade them from seeking medical care. Semin stayed awake most nights. "I was afraid that he would kill me or my children," she says. The beatings were so excessive that the police finally stepped in and arrested Rateb. After nine months in jail, authorities realized that Rateb had serious mental health problems and released him. Rateb's father tried to get him mental health treatment but Rateb refused. Semin's father-in-law then begged her to tell her side of the family about Rateb's problems, and to take the children and go live with her brothers. He was concerned that Rateb would kill them all. For months, Rateb was able to prevent Semin from going to visit her brothers. When he finally let her visit, he kept the children with him, beating them daily. Eventually, police intervened again and removed the children, taking them and Semin to Women for Afghan Women. WAW helped Semin get her husband admitted to a hospital but he escaped after one day. Her brothers were too poor to support her and she continued to be terrified that her husband would find and kill her and the children. Semin and her children were surviving in the Kabul shelter, but she wanted more for her family. WAW staff were impressed by Semin's determination to once again be self-sufficient and to give her children a future. When WAW opened the shelter in Mazar-e-Sharef they offered her a job as a caretaker in this new program. Semin continues to show admirable strength and resilience. Rather than being bitter or beaten by all she has been through, she remains optimistic. "Now I can earn enough money to support my children. I am very thankful to WAW because now my children can go to school. I am hopeful for their future and I hope one day my husband will recover and we can all live together again," Semin says. Semin finds strength every day in helping others become safe and is an amazing member of the WAW family.
