Letters

In the safety of his boxer short compartment, for the entirety of his journey, Ayoub stashed three precious pieces of paper, secured in a little plastic bag. They are letters with drawings from his little nieces, who at the time were about seven or eight years old. When he was just a week away from Herat, after his arrival in Teheran, a friend of his went back and forth between Afghanistan and Iran, who then brought these letters back for Ayoub. It is not hard to imagine how emotional these letters are to him. Ayoub was prepared to read them aloud for us.

“Hello my dear uncle, I love you very much. I cannot live without you, come back. It is very difficult here without you. I hope to see you again soon.”

“Hello my dear uncle, I did not see you when you left, because I was in school. I love you very much. I give you to God and I hope that God takes good care of you. You are my dear uncle, you were always sweet to me. I will never forget you. My life will not be fun anymore without you.”

Ayoub says that this is only the second time he has read the letters: “It is so extremely difficult to read this. I never looked at them on my way here, but I always made sure they were safely stowed away.” Even now Ayoub does not read the letters for himself; they bring about many things that Ayoub would rather not be reminded of. Nonetheless, Ayoub keeps them securely stored, because they remain inextricably bound to him.