Afghanistan

I Just Want Him to be Safe

That’s why we came here—so they would not take him away from me.

Written by Twila Bird
Charcoal Drawing by Elizabeth Thayer
Mina, Afghanistan

My husband had two wives. I was the second one. When he died sixteen years ago, the first wife’s children took our house, land, and everything he owned. My two sons and I fled to Pakistan. Later, we returned to ask for our share of my husband’s possessions. Because of that, they killed my older son and beat Obaid, the younger one. I hid him, then went back and buried my older son with my own hands. They beat me, too, but we escaped.

We went to Turkey and were staying with my brother, but my husband’s first family called me there and sent warnings. They said they would come and kill my other son, too. I was scared. I didn’t have a husband. I have only this one child now. That’s why we came here—so they would not take him away from me. I just want him to be somewhere safe from his enemies. I don’t want anything more. I just want him to be safe.

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What would you do if you had to leave everything behind?

By the end of 2025, more than 117.8 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced by war, persecution, or human rights abuses — and 45 million of them are children.

They arrive in refugee camps and countries seeking safety and carrying little: legal papers, if they're lucky. A backpack. A child's hand in theirs.

What they carry that we can't see is heavier: fractured families, homes they'll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

In a climate where immigrant stories are often ignored or twisted, we believe stories are a form of justice. When someone shares what they survived, they reclaim their voice. When we amplify it through film, photography, and advocacy, the world listens. Hearts soften. Policy begins to shift.

Because when a lawmaker sees a person instead of a statistic, and a neighbor understands instead of fears, rebuilding becomes possible.

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— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, Their Story is Our Story

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