Name: Sahar Mahmudah

Profile: A Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, currently living as a refugee in Indonesia

Risks: Being abducted by the Taliban, and being killed

Personal Qualities: Kind, honest, friendly, determined, intelligent, strong, brave, resourceful, skillful, fit, resilient, independent, co-operative, thoughtful, ambitious

Advantages: UN-certified, Good English skills, Volunteer teacher

Seeking: A group of five Canadian sponsors to privately sponsorship her to Canada.

WhatsApp contact number: +93 74 948 2526

Contribute to her fundraiser: Here - good news. Fundraising complete and application submitted!

Read about the Australian group who organized her fundraiser.

When the Taliban came to Sahar’s home, her twin brother lost his own life for saving his sister. Sahar escaped from there to Kabul and then fled to Indonesia.

While living alone in a limbo life without any support, Sahar has been an inspiration for many girls and women. She has been a volunteer teacher for her community, and she has been a good soccer player.

She hopes now to find five Canadian friends who can help her start her life again.

This is Sahar’s story, as told from her heart.

Introduction

Hello, beautiful people across Canada. I am Mahmudah Sahar, a Hazara woman from Afghanistan and I am 22 years old. I have come from a small village of the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

“In Afghanistan, I loved going to school. I was a good student and always studied hard.”

Living with Fear

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres due to their culture, religion, and love for education

When I walked to school, my friends and I were scared of being attacked by the Taliban. This often happened to the Hazara people. As a Hazara woman, I was in danger of sexual abuse, and being taken for the sex trade. Many Hazara girls and women have been murdered by the Taliban.

My Life as an Orphan

My father, whose name was Qurbanali, died in an explosion while working down a well near my village in 2003. My mother, Jawza, who loved my father very much, died of a heart attack on the same day when she heard the news of my father’s death. My twin brother and only sibling, Faizullah, and I were only 5 years of age when this tragedy happened.

Our Grandmother became our guardian until she died when we were 10 years old. From that time my cousin, who was much older than us, became our guardian. He was a very cruel and careless man, and he was our only relative. He was married but had no children. He worked as a driver and gambled regularly. As he was a very violent man, my brother and I suffered so much punishment and abuse from him. Many times, my cousin threatened that he would sell me to repay his gambling debts. My brother always tried to protect me from him, but he was older and stronger. He would hurt my brother terribly if he stood up for me.

The Incident

Our cousin forced my brother to stop school and work with him as a driver. Not long after my brother began working, our cousin took a young woman who lived in the neighboring province of Oruzgan. He then abandoned us and disappeared with the young woman. Soon after he left, two men arrived at our house who I recognized as Taliban because of the language they spoke, their style of dress, long beards and hair. They also had guns. My brother told me to hide upstairs. He said I should take the money he had been saving and leave quickly.

“We both knew it was not safe for me, but I could not leave my dear brother behind.”

While I was hiding upstairs, I heard the men demanding that my brother find our cousin and the young woman. My brother explained he did not know where our cousin was. They said, they would take me instead. When my brother refused to allow them to take me, they murdered him. At that moment, I took my brother's money and quietly left from the back of my house.

“I ran to the forest in the hills and I hid there in deep sadness and fear for the night.”

I Fled My Home

As the sun rose the next morning, I walked to the closest market bazaar, hiding and crying all the way. I found a car to drove me to Kabul.

When I arrived in Kabul the car took me to a small hotel which was a Hazara-friendly place. It was there I met ‘Haji’, which means a rich elder and Muslim man who has been to Mecca as a pilgrim. I explained my situation to Haji, and he suggested me to leave my country because I wasn’t safe anywhere in Afghanistan.

I paid him all my brother’s money and he arranged for a people smuggler to send out of country. I did not know where he would send me. I had never been anywhere for all my life.

“I was so frightened to go but more frightened to stay and be at the risk of being caught by the Taliban.”

My Journey to Indonesia

It took one week to fly from Kabul to Indonesia, stopping in India and Malaysia. Four other refugees were leaving Afghanistan, and I was the only girl traveling alone. All the way my head was spinning, and I was vomiting. I was only thinking about my brother. I heard from another refugee that UNHCR would help me.

After arriving in Indonesia, a man drove me to a homestay and paid for me to stay there. He came back two mornings later and paid for a taxi to drive me to the UNHCR. I was registered at the UNHCR that day and received my UNHCR identification card 7 months later. At least now I have this very important identification.

My Life in Indonesia

As a refugee in Indonesia, I have been deprived of my basic rights. My life is very difficult here as I have no family to support me.

“Life as a single female refugee is dangerous, and I feel afraid.”

Since arriving in Indonesia, I have managed to find places to live with an Afghan family or another single Afghan woman. Now, I am a private teacher of Mathematics, English and Science, and also, I am a volunteer in a refugee learning centre. I believe education is so important and refugee children cannot go to Indonesian schools. I must help them learn

My Hopes and Dreams

My dreams are higher education in business, to stand on my two feet and to help others. I would love to sing again.

My ambition, since I was a schoolgirl, has always been to be a businesswoman. I was very good at Mathematics and I have good ideas too. I want to go to college and get a degree in business. I hope my dreams will come true.

“I would certainly work very hard, to get my degree in business and help other women around the world if they are in the same situation as I am now.”

I also play soccer, and I like to be fit because it helps me to stay healthy and well. Playing soccer with my friends helps me let go of stress and get a fresh mind.

An Opportunity

Sahar’s only option to be able to get a proper education, find work, and move forward with her life is to find a group of five citizens to bring her to Canada.

“I need help from good and generous Canadian people to sponsor me, so I can have my freedom and a new life in Canada.”

As a UNHCR refugee, Sahar is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

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

You can also reach out to Sahar through her WhatsApp Contact Number: +93 74 948 2526

You can contribute to her fundraise here

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