I was born in Pakistan, but for the past 31 years the USA has been my home. America is a wonderful country to live in and I’m lucky to feel safe and free here. Right now, I am embarrassed of my country.
What’s happening in Afghanistan is heartbreaking, terrible, and wrong in so many ways. It is very hard to hear and see how people are being treated. The abrupt departure of the US military was not well planned and has endangered the lives of civilians who worked with the US. This is a very sad reality those left behind are facing. One they had worked to overcome for the past two decades.
Anytime I went back to Pakistan to visit family I went knowing that if something were to happen, the US government would bring me back safely. I’m lucky nothing ever happened. That’s not the case for those in Afghanistan now. Americans in Afghanistan and our Afghani civilian allies are desperate to leave but they can’t.
My heart goes out to everyone, especially the young girls and women in Afghanistan. No matter how many problems we have, we are blessed in many ways. Let’s not take our freedom and lives for granted. I hope and wish for every person who is leaving Afghanistan to find safety and be reunited with their loved ones as soon as possible. Living in constant fear is not living. It is every person’s birthright to be free and feel safe.
