Farewell Afghanistan

The constant anguish, the roundups of the fundamentalists, the failed attempts to escape.
And then the anxiety for those who remained, made even more excruciating by the bloody attacks. The testimony of a nun who arrived in Italy on one of the last evacuation flights: "The girls send me messages in tears. If possible, I will return to Afghanistan".
Sister Shahnaz will never forget the days in Taliban-occupied Kabul, anxiously awaiting an opportunity to leave the country.
The nun who worked in Afghanistan for the Pro Bambini association of Kabul (PBK), who arrived in Italy with one of the last flights of the airlift organized by the authorities, is still in shock: "Even now that I'm here safe and sound, every time when I hear a knock on the door or hear the sound of a shutter moved by the wind, I feel my heart sank and I am terrified that someone has come to get me ».

The images of the recent attack in the midst of crowds crowding around the airport of the Afghan capital have only awakened the ghosts of recent weeks and reinforced fears for "those who remained there". The story of the 46-year-old nun of the Congregation of Santa Giovanna Antida is dramatic: «Everyone in the city was in a panic and just wanted to leave. In these days of terror not a minute went by without some acquaintance arriving to ask for a letter of reference in the name of PBK in the hope that it could be used to leave the country; I prepared them but I was aware that they would be useless, because all the offices in the city are closed, as are the banks, there is complete paralysis ».
The departure, for Sister Shahnaz and the four missionaries of Mother Teresa who in the last few days had moved to her own building together with the 14 disabled children they looked after, was very difficult: "No agency felt like taking responsibility for take us to the airport as security could not be guaranteed. We have made contact with various organizations, from NATO to Catholic Relief Services, from Unama (the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) to the Red Cross: on several occasions it seemed that the transfer was imminent but every time, at the last moment, we received a phone call informing us that the conditions did not allow us to move ». In the meantime, the nuns - as well as the other religious still in Kabul and the local citizens who had collaborated with them in recent years - lived in fear of a round-up by the Taliban: "Here they came knocking once on the door, with violence, in the first days of the occupation. In the house there was still only me and the other nun who worked with me in the PBK school for disabled children. We heard a loud commotion and some people crying outside the gate ... We hid, although we were aware that if they broke down the door we would not be saved, and luckily after a few minutes they were gone. Similar experiences have happened to people on our staff, as well as to the Indian Jesuit in charge of the Jesuit Refugee Service who was then helped to hide in another building by some local collaborators ».

Sister Shahnaz confesses: «I would have had several occasions to escape alone but, like the head of the Catholic Church, Father Giovanni Scalese, I refused to leave without the other members of our community and the people who totally depended on us. I thought: "We will die together as martyrs or we will be saved together" ». Finally, three days ago, the good occasion: «Father Giovanni called us telling us to be ready for that evening. At about 9.30 pm a bus arrived in front of our gate accompanied by a police car, by Father Scalese and by Alberto Cairo of the Red Cross. We went out, completely in the dark, and left for the airport ». A journey characterized by «an unspeakable anxiety.
On the street people ran and tried to reach the airport, the Taliban fired wildly into the air, then a bullet hit a person who fell to the ground right in front of our car. Finally arrived at the main gate, we managed to pass through the fundamentalists' checks and we got to safety. We then learned that the same police who escorted us were Taliban, who now have everything in their hands ».

Even now that she is safe in Italy, the nun is certainly not serene: «My soul is torn, my heart is in Kabul among the school children and their families, who risk retaliation. But I also think of the girls who send me messages in tears asking for help, and of the many parents afraid that the Taliban will take their children to make them guerrillas, while they would like them to go to school and build a different future. I entrust them all to the Lord ... ».
As for her, Sister Shahnaz is determined to do her part: «With the help of my congregation and PBK, I will do everything possible to stand alongside the Afghans who arrived with us: the children, the students, my collaborators .. Since the entire staff is now here, I would like to continue our commitment to the service of other Afghan refugee children in Italy: after all, this is the vocation of the association from the very beginning. However, my superiors will decide my future. I can only say that, if one day we have the possibility to return to Kabul, I will be there ».

#sume: "We will die together as martyrs or we will be saved together". Sister Shahnaz Bhatti tells of her fleeing from Kabul in the days following the disastrous fall of the Afghan capital after the Taliban offensive in mid-August. The terror, the anxiety about leaving, the concern for those who remain, the desire to share their destiny with those you love and, finally, the dream of a possible return.

Chiara Zappa - AsiaNews
NP August / September 2021