A young widow in her early twenties contemplates her future. She was kidnapped by the Taliban in her teens and forced to marry a Taliban soldier, becoming his third wife. Now widowed with two children, as former Taliban, she is an outcast to society. She says, "My life is over".

Widowed 7 years ago, a mother finds herself with eight children to support. Her only option is to live in a single room provided by an uncle, her one living male relative. Her five girls range from eight to nineteen and her boys are 7, 8, and 9 years old. Even though their lives have been destroyed, Fawzia* wants to be a lawyer, Abida* wants to be a doctor, Naseema* wants to be a journalist, and Aeisha* wants to be a doctor. The mother is a college-educated woman and is actively seeking employment, but has been unable to find a job.

While conducting our latest Gardens of Hope class at one of the many refugee camps in Kabul, we encountered even more heart-wrenching stories from all of the 54 women who signed up for our class. Each of the women is looking for an opportunity to improve both her life and the life of her family, as they have no opportunities to support their familites. They and their children go out daily to beg; desperate for survival, many of the women hae not resorted to prostitution to earn food for their families. Each woman is looking for a way out of the poverty and hopelessness she is currently experiencing.

Here are some of these women's stories from the refugee camp:

Bebe Hawa lost her husband in the war. She once had 12 children. Six of them died before they reached the age of five! One of her surviving sons had his leg blown off by a land mine, so she cares for him, rather than the son caring for his widowed mother, as normally would be the case. The family now goes wihtout food at least three times each week, and Bebe lives with her grown daughter Latifa.

Latfia is also a widow with a 12 year old son. When her husband died, her mother-in-law came and took her son away from her. Since the mother-in-law's only son (Latifa's husband) had been killed, the grandson now belonged to the grandmother, not his mother! Latifa and her remaining family live in a bombed-out shell of a room in the refugee camp without windows.

Zia Gul is 45 years old. She and her family were forced to leave Kabul during the Taliban and lived in Pakistan in a refugee camp for 4 years. After returning to Kabul, they found their home destroyed and must now continue to live as refugees in a refugee camp in their own country. She has 9 children, but only two of those children go to school. Her husband fought for 3 years in the war in Afghanistan. He has heart trouble and suffered a nervous breakdown, and is no longer able to support or care for his family. Zia lost her 16 year old son in a battle in Jalalabad. Two of her sons go into the city every day to try to find odd jobs to help bring in money for the family. Between the two of them, they are able to bring in $2.00 - $4.00 a day. At least three or four times a month, Zia and her children go to bed having had nothing to eat that day. Other days their diet consists of rice, potatoes and bread, because they cannot afford to buy vegetables. 

Kamila is 40 years old and lives in the refugee camp with her husband and 11 children, 6 sons and 5 daughters, and her elderly father-in-law. She lost one daughter from heat exposure as an infant. She is only able to afford to send 3 of her children to school. She was married at 14 in an arranged marriage just before war started in Afghanistan. Life has been difficult ever since. Her 18 year old son was forced to fight in the war and is now mentally disturbed and unable to work. Her other sons are too young to work. Her husband sells items on a street cart in the city, but is only able to make about $2.50 a day. Her family goes without food an average of two days a week. When they can afford food, their diet consists of rice, potatoes and bread. Kamila suffers from diabetes and has no way to control it. 

*names have been changed.