Mr Ghulam comes from Herat, a province in Afghanistan. He is married and has four daughters and two sons. He lived a simple and quiet life, working as a bricklayer while his wife worked as a seamstress. But everything changed with the Taliban taking power. He started to be persecuted because of his religious choice and was forced to leave his home to survive.
He had already lost one of his daughters who passed away a few years ago, but with the need to flee, he also had to separate from the other members of his family and came to Brazil with only his wife and youngest son.
Arriving in Brazil was very difficult. The culture and language are completely different from what he was used to and adapting to a new country has been a great challenge. The days often seem long and it’s hard to hold on to what’s left of the hope of building a happy, safe, comfortable life in Brazil.
But he discovered that he can dedicate himself to one of his passions while at AIRE – plants and gardening. He organized our orchard and made it his mission in the house to attend to all the plants’ needs. Every day he waters the plants and sits next to them in the sun.
Something that seems so small has brought new purpose to Mr. Ghulam. He still finds the Brazilian language and food a little strange, but he understands that the same Sun that shines in Afghanistan is the one that shines in Brazil and he has found a reason to smile when he sits under it with the plants.
