The White Sneakers

August 15, 2021, is a black day for all Afghans, especially for girls. That day, twenty years of achievement for women became nothing. As a nineteen-year-old girl, I no longer had a place in Taliban society. But I was lucky. I was a student at the Marefat School. I was one of the ones selected by the school to leave Afghanistan.

Three days before the trip, I went shopping with my mother. I was allowed to bring two sets of clothes and one pair of shoes. I bought my sneakers. They are white and gold Ben Goji shoes. The combination of the two colours is stunning. When I saw them in the shoe store, I bought them without any delay.

On October 11, I left Kabul for the Torkham border with the rest of the school group. I was wearing a long black hijab with my sneakers. We travelled in five Mercedes with our male escorts: our fathers and brothers, according to Taliban laws.

The distance from Kabul to Torkham was extremely challenging for all the members of the group. Every few kilometres, we had to pass Taliban checkpoints. All these men had dangerous faces and dangerous guns. Their violence scared us. We were worried that they would find out about our school group and that we were Hazara. We feared for our safety.

We arrived at Torkham at 10:00 p.m. and stayed overnight in a filthy hotel. Our escape was a secret, but when we got to the hotel, I was surprised to see two of my classmates.

Early the next morning, we were all ready to cross the border. This was the moment when the girls said goodbye to their fathers and brothers who had brought them to Torkham. Me too. I hugged my father. My father had always encouraged me and said to try hard to reach my goals: “Life is like gold, don’t waste it.” He is my hero and the most important person in my life. I can still feel the warmth of that hug. He told me to be strong and to endure my hardships.

We moved closer to the border. Now I had another worry: my sneakers were white. White is symbolic of the Taliban government because their flag is white. Luckily, my hijab was very long. If they couldn’t see my shoes, they wouldn’t care. We all stood there in long queues just praying that we could pass through without any incidents. I thought to myself that when I passed through that gate, all my problems would be solved and I would be free of the Taliban.

After we stood for four hours, it was our turn. The guard checked my information with my group and we were allowed to cross the border. No one noticed my white sneakers. I had a strange feeling that I was passing through the gate of happiness. We were finally in Pakistan. We all boarded the bus to go to the hostel.

The next morning, I washed my clothes and my sneakers. In Pakistan, I bought two new pairs of shoes to wear in my freedom. I wore my white sneakers again just twice when I went on picnics with my friends. But I want to keep these shoes because they were like a loyal friend in the most difficult situation. I want to get to Canada in these shoes. I hope they will help me achieve a bright future.