Afghan teen who fled war thankful for freedom to attend school in Edmonton

A 17-year-old Hazara girl who found refuge in Edmonton earlier this year is embracing life in her new country. More than anything, she’s thankful she can go to school freely.

Nargis Attaiee remembers what life was sometimes like in Afghanistan.

“Every week there were two or three bomb explosions in different parts of Kabul or Afghanistan and especially in educational places,” recounted the teenager.

Attaiee is one of more than 800 Afghan refugees who resettled in Alberta through Catholic Social Services.

“When I came here, every morning, instead of hearing the sounds of bombs, sounds of gunfire, (I) hear bird sounds – songs of birds – and I’m free to learn.”

Afghan refugee Nargis Attaiee reading on device at high school on Sept. 21, 2022. (Credit: CityNews/Sarah Chew)

Catholic Social Services is expecting hundreds more refugees – several seeking an education, like Nargis – to arrive in the province.

“There is a lot of children coming,” said Kathryn Friesen, the group’s director of immigration and settlement services. “So with the Afghan group, it ranges between 40 and 50 per cent are people under 18.”

Attaiee says she’s grateful for how Catholic Social Services has helped her transition to life in Canada, especially by giving her tools for school.

“Tablet is helping me a lot,” she said. “I use the tablet for my school, my school homework, I learn French with that, I read books and it’s helping me a lot.”

Afghan refugee Nargis Attaiee (centre) between Kathryn Friesen (left) and Troy Davies of the Catholic Social Services on Sept. 21, 2022. (Credit: CityNews/Sarah Chew)

Starting Sept. 21, through the “Sign of Hope” fundraising campaign, Catholic Social Services hopes to raise $2.6 million to help them continue their work.

“From an increase and need for accessible mental-health supports and counselling, to demand for domestic abuse shelters, to a growing number of at-risk youth seeking safety and support, we are stretching to meet this demand, but now more than ever we need your support,” said CEO Troy Davies.

Attaiee is encouraging people to turn pity or empathy for refugees into a donation – using money to help girls like her.

“Thousands of girls, their hopes are being destroyed,” she said. “Do they want to be doctors, do they want to be engineers? But they’re at home.”

The “Sign of Hope” fundraising campaign runs until Dec. 31.