Name: Mohammad Mahdi Qurban Zada

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, Experienced volunteer teacher.

Risk: At risk of being caught and killed by the Taliban if returned home.

Needed: Five people to serve as private sponsors in Canada.

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

When Mohammad Mahdi fell in love with Malaly, a Pashtun girl, they both tried to escape, but Malaly was captured by her family and Mohammad Mahdi escaped to the city where he couldn’t return to his home. After a few months, his mother was sick and he had to go to his mother. While going to his village back, he was captured and tortured by the Taliban.

Luckily, he escaped from there and fled to Indonesia, where he has been deprived of his basic rights. Despite living in a limbo life, he has been giving hope and volunteering for refugees. He is a motivation for refugees and he needs a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start his life again.

Childhood

Mohammad Mahdi was born in 1990 in Qarabagh the district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

The Qarabagh district is consists of a few villages of Hazaras which are surrounded by Pashtun people and the Taliban.

The Hazara people in Afghanistan have long been targets of persecution and massacres and have experienced ongoing genocide because of their ethnicity and religious and political beliefs.

Mohammad Mahdi was only 12 years old when he left school because his school was near Pashtun villages and it was not safe.

“Leaving school was a hard and sorrowful decision. At that time, all my dreams broke up, and being a doctor was no longer possible for me.”

He began helping his father on his farm.

His Love Story

At his age of 24, he was a driver on the way from his village to the city of Ghazni. There was a fountain on his way where he sometimes washed his hands, face or car. One day, he stopped there to wash his car, and his water container was broken. When he saw a Pashtun girl washing dishes, he went to her and asked her for help.

“When I looked to her eyes, my hands stopped moving and I just wanted that beautiful moment to stop and stay forever.”

After that day, they both fell in love and they were trying to find excuses to see each other every day and for hours.

They kept meeting hiddenly for two months. After that, they knew that their family would never accept their marriage, so they decided to escape from their hometown and live somewhere secretly.

As planned, when they met each other to escape, someone had seen them and informed Malaly’s family. They were on their way when Malaly’s father, brother and villagers attacked them. They captured Malaly, but Mohammad Mahdi escaped to the city of Ghazni where he was hidden in a hotel.

He was completely depressed and was suffering a lot of pain because he wasn’t able to see his love anymore and he didn’t know about her condition as well.

“Life without her was meaningless to me, even it was harder for me to breathe anymore. Time had stopped and seconds were not passing.”

Some days later, when one of his friends met him and saw his condition, he tried to convince Mohammad Mahdi to forget Malaly and start a new life, otherwise, he would be killed by them. Then, Mohammad Mahdi was convinced. He sold his car and opened a shop with his friend.

Captured and Tortured

After a few months, his mother got sick and he was compelled to return to his home for his mother. His friend told him to take digital stuff like tv, computer, and tv antenna for selling. When he and the driver reached the desert of Qarabagh, the Taliban stopped them and started searching the car. They transferred Mohammad Mahdi and the driver to an unknown place where they investigated and tortured them badly. The Taliban said that they had been reported about the supplying of digital stuff which was a sign of infidelity for the Taliban, and its punishment was death. They took their documents and decided to kill them the next day.

When Mohammad Mahdi and the driver found themselves alone at night, they untied each other’s hands and escaped from that area. Finally, he arrived in Kabul and stayed in a hotel for seven days with the fear of being captured by the Taliban again.

Escaped to Indonesia

The hotel manager suggested him to leave the country because his documents were still with the Taliban and they could find him anyway. With the help of the hotel manager, he found a people smuggler.

On December 2, 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India and stayed in a small room for five days. Then, he flew to Malaysia and stayed in a locked and small house with other asylum seekers for 11 days. On December 18, 2014, they arrived in Indonesia by a wooden boat and was registered at the UNHCR office in Jakarta on December 23, 2014.

With no right to work and way to support himself, Mohammad Mahdi went to Makassar Detention Centre in January 2015. He was detained in the detention centre for four years.

“The worst part of the imprisonment for me was not knowing how long we must be detained before they would set us free.”

He always tried to stay positive. He kept learning new skills and also volunteering for refugees. On July 25, 2018, he received his freedom from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house.

His life now

Mohammad Mahdi attends his English classes and tries to participate in sports and other positive activities. He is still a volunteer teacher.

“I enjoy helping, giving hope and motivation to others. Helping others gives me a sense of peace and confidence.”

Although he isn’t in prison, he feels he is, due to not having his basic rights.

“The long resettlement process and uncertain future lead us to periodic depression and anxiety.”

An opportunity

As a UNHCR refugee, Mohammad Mahdi is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. He needs a group of five Canadian friends to support him.

To help support Mohammad Mahdi as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Mohammad Mahdi directly on Facebook.

Reach out and discover how wonderful it is to privately sponsor a nice person to start a new life – with your help – in Canada!

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