As the Taliban moved into western Afghanistan to take over Herat Province, Fahemeh Amini grew increasingly frightened. For two weeks, the Afghan Army fought to keep the rebels out, but on Aug. 12 the city fell.
That day, Amini left work at Herat University as armed rebels on motorcycles sped by. She lives with her father and stepmother and has not left the house without a man since that day.
“No woman can live alone now. We do not have the courage to go out. The Taliban are so dangerous,” Amini texted The Gazette from WhatsAp, a cellphone application which Afghans are using because it’s said to be more secure than email or regular phone texting.
Amini said she cried for the first two days and couldn't eat.
She is one of several Afghans who are awaiting a Special Immigrant Visa to leave the country. To do that, she needs an American sponsor to support her effort.
Wahid Omar, an Afghan-American who fled Afghanistan during is decadelong war with the Soviet Union settling first in Omaha and then Colorado, is trying to help get Amini to Denver.
“The rest of the world doesn’t understand the urgency of the humanitarian crisis developing in Afghanistan. There’s no education system, no health care, no economic system, ISIS is moving in and the winter months will be difficult,” said Omar, whose phone constantly pinged with messages from stranded Afghans hoping for a lifeline. “People are desperate.”
Omar has sponsored three Afghans. Watching Afghanistan fall for the second time after 20 years of developing a democracy there is heartbreaking for him.
“I see no light at the end of the tunnel for Afghanistan,” said Omar, who in addition to work with the State Department, volunteers for an organization called Afghans4Tomorrow.
Amini hasn't married because she felt education was more important. Her career was on the upswing, working as manager of Cultural Relations, Cooperation and Scientific Contracts at Herat University.
She said that since the fall of Herat, the Taliban eliminated the Women’s Affairs Ministry, fired everyone at the university and replaced the professors with religious figures who have no experience in education.
“The Taliban doesn’t need government rules. They decide using their own judgment,” said Amini, who Omar says may have a chance to leave for Pakistan soon if they can get her a sponsor.
An open letter Amini wrote to Vice President Kamala Harris asking for help has so far had no response.
“At this time I must get out of the country,” Amini wrote. “ There is no way to live like a human here. I can’t breathe.”
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