THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS: FROM AFGHANISTAN TO L’AQUILA, LIFE RESTARTS

J., 29, his wife 23, two daughters aged 5 and 3 and then Mujib, “from L’Aquila”, the last born.

This is one of the 3 families who arrived in Italy, escaped from the Taliban invasion of their city.
In the short time the Taliban took control of all facilities, whoever managed to get on the last departing plane, could do so. And so did J., with his wife and two daughters, before Mujib was born. His brother wanted to do this too, but he couldn’t: “He has children in wheelchairs who could not get on the plane, so he stayed there to protect them and entrusted me with the only one who could move and take the plane with us. , the 11-year-old nephew.
“I used to work in the jewellery industry” explains J. “I also worked with Americans“. I decided to leave, it was a matter of life or death, J. is what is defined in the jargon as a sensitive target. The Taliban would never “forgive” this contact with the Western world.
The first thing J. seeks in his future is “documents”. Then, “I want to learn Italian well”. Third, work. With the documents all right and fluen Italian, the next step is “starting a new company”. Thus, together with his family, life can resume.

«In the long interview of which we shared only a small part, this father speaks of his last born as “a joy that cannot be explained”. It is incredible how even in front of terrible realities such as war or terrorism, life can prevail and, with it, happiness” is the comment of the president of Steadfast Emmanuele Di Leo.