Bahshta Bakhtari

full interview

Hello. I am Nilofer from 1,000 Dreams. Today I want to interview you and ask about your life situation in America. Can you introduce yourself first? Hello. My name is Bahshta and my last name is Bakhtari.

Dear Bahshta, where and with whom do you live? I live in Valley Cottage in a house with my mother.

How do you spend your time here? During the day, I work and after work, when I come home, I am busy with housework.

What is enjoyable for you in your free time or work? When I am free, I listen to music, chat with my friends and family. This is how I spend my day and have fun.

How has your life been since you came to America and what are the differences with the country you lived in before? The only difference is that we can work here and live freely. This country is safe. It was not safe in Afghanistan where we lived. Women could not work and could not go out. There are facilities here and we can work and have rights.

Well…How did you feel when you left Afghanistan and came here? Did you imagine that one day you would have to leave your country and live in America? Are you happy with your current situation or are you still thinking about the past and your country? We never thought that there would be big changes in our country, that we would have to leave our country, come to another country, and start our life again. Because living here… because the conditions and environment here are different from our country. The culture here is different from there. It is more difficult to live like this because we start our life from zero. Here we again study, work and build a life. We start everything from the beginning.

You mentioned that you are talking to your family on the phone and you live here with your mother. Are there other members of your family in Afghanistan and how do you communicate with them? Yes. My husband is in Afghanistan and not here, and my brother and sister are also in Afghanistan and I talk to them on the phone.

Well. When Afghanistan collapsed under the Taliban’s rule, there were many problems, and there were general changes for all Afghans. When you came to America, do you remember those moments? In addition, is it harmful to you? Has it affected your mental health? Exactly. Because when we left our country, the conditions were very bad and I will never forget it and I will always remember it because it was an incident that affected all Afghans. If we do not remember it during the day, but when we rest at night, we remember the incident. 

For you, that incident remains like a bad memory in your mind. How did you get out of that situation? Because the people who came from Ukraine and other countries became refugees and when we talked with them, many of them suffered from depression. What made you stay in good spirits and start your life in America? Because here we do not only think about ourselves, we also have to think about our family and those who were left behind in Afghanistan. We have to give them the spirit that the incident is over and we have to move on. Because if we do not move on, it will cause stress and destroy us, so we have to make changes in our lives to progress.

Do you hope that one-day Afghanistan will be peaceful again and you will return to your country or do you want to live in America forever? We hope that our homeland will be settled again and the war will end and we can return to our country or those who are there, our families and people can live in safety.

Do you have a job here in America? Yes. I work here in a clothing market.

When you came here, your mental health was not good, so did you have hope that you could start life here again? Yes. Because there were facilities and we could start again.

Can you make this sentence more complete? Like I had hope. Yes. I hope that here I can start all over again and work and start my life again.

How do you see the situation of refugees in general here? Those who came from other countries and live here, do they have more problems regarding their residence permit and work, or can they easily accept the environment here and start their lives? When refugees arrive in the United States, it is difficult for them because the culture here is very different from ours, but they get used to it over time.  Here they can lead their lives… [long pause]

You asked about refugee accommodation here. It takes a long time to get a residence permit here and no one can get a residence quickly. For example, I have been in America for almost a year and a half, and till now my future is unknown, and I did not get a residence permit, nor was my job guaranteed. Because every court here takes six or seven months. I do not have a work permit at the moment and I had a work permit for a while. I can’t get a work permit until I get a residence permit. It is very difficult for refugees. The house rent or food stamps given to the refugees are not enough and they cannot pay their house rent. When we don’t have a work permit and the government doesn’t pay our house rent, it’s hard for us and we can’t afford it. When we ask the government, they say that they cannot give us more than this amount. When they accept refugees and say that they will pay their house rent…but it is not enough. How can we pay rent when we are not allowed to work? The only problem is that we don’t have a residence permit and it takes a long time and getting a work permit is very difficult. When refugees come here, they are allowed to work for six months, but we cannot get residence in six months. At first, we only make a request that goes through the steps. It took three years for those who were here to complete their status documents, but they still did not get residence permits. How can we pay our other expenses? For example, it is very difficult to get a license and we cannot get a residence permit and work permit because it takes a lot of time.

What is your big dream? My big dream is to be able to continue my studies here and study in the field I like. I want to fulfill my dream here and return to my homeland and serve my people and the people here. 

Thank you. You are welcome.