‘Very happy to be alive’
Welland volunteer fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan
Women’s rights advocate Suhaila Wakil Balagh, 38, can never return to her home country of Afghanistan.
Now living in Welland, where she makes a home with her husband and children, she is welcome to volunteer and advocate for women’s rights, but in her home country, the Taliban have placed a bounty on her head because of it.
The Taliban enforce their own form of Sharia, or Islamic law. This can include public executions of murderers and adulterers. Men are required to grow beards and woman must wear a burka — an all-covering gown and headdress with only the eyes exposed.
Before the Taliban insurgence in 2010, Wakil Balagh worked at a women’s rights centre called the Volunteer Organization in Kabul, the country’s capital, offering support in the form of language lessons and work skills training. She also visited families within the community to encourage parents to allow their daughters to attend school.
“In my country we don’t have women’s rights, because of that I want to help women — women should help women to know their rights.”
Wakil Balagh said she felt depressed knowing women didn’t know they were equal to men and deserve the same opportunities. This feeling inspired her to work as the manager of the women’s rights centre.
The centre was supported by the United Nations and UNICEF. Women who didn’t have husbands would visit the centre learning how to sew with materials given to them by UNICEF.
“I am very happy to be alive because the other women that were teachers (with me) got killed by the Taliban, and I survived.”
Due to her work with women the Aghanistan government provided Wakil Balagh with a bodyguard. She said even before the Taliban gained control of the country from the government, being a female advocate was dangerous.
Wakil Balagh also worked as an English as a second language teacher. She received her degree in English literature from the Kabul Education University.
Many families in Afghanistan don’t allow their daughters to be educated. When the Taliban gained control, they banned the education of girls who were older than 10. Wakil Balagh said her education made her a threat to the Taliban, which holds extremist views.
The Taliban began tracking her work when they learned she was educating women. When she left Kabul she said she had to move a few times because they were still tracking her. Wakil Balagh said living in Canada is much safer and she no longer has to worry about being captured.
One morning in 2010 she said she woke up to learn the Taliban had gained control of the city. Wakil Balagh said the takeover was a quiet one, without war. Armed men took over the city by force and trusted neighbours and community members revealed their support of the Taliban.
“We woke up and everything was different, everywhere was so quiet. My neighbour, I didn’t know, my neighbour became Taliban.”
When she was ready to go to work at the centre that morning she said her friends called her to warn her not to go to work. They said the Taliban had broken into the centre and found her address. Wakil Balagh had to leave as soon as possible because the Taliban would come for her.
The day after Wakil Balagh fled, the Taliban arrived at her home demanding her brother hand her over. She said her brother lied saying a group of Taliban had already captured her.
“The Taliban beat my brother until near death ... he never said my sister is alive ... My brother, was maybe 20 days with Taliban, they beat him ... they crucified him like Jesus.”
Luckily her brother survived the brutal beatings and torture. She said because her brother, parents and other siblings still live in Afghanistan she couldn’t give names or specifics about her family.
Wakil Balagh escaped to Pakistan with the help of her father, who accompanied her until she got to safety. After that she moved to Saudi Arabia where she met her husband who was already there, and finally to Canada in 2013. Her five children were born in different countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United States and Afghanistan.
Eventually, Wakil Balagh and her family moved to Niagara in 2016.
Despite losing her career as an English teacher, Wakil Balagh continues to work hard. For Wakil Balagh, volunteering is fulfilling because it keeps her busy and she feels as though she is making a difference.
“I like to make people happy and be involved with them — to help them and guide them. This makes me happy,” she said.
Wakil Balagh volunteers as an English as a second language teacher three days a week at Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre. She also volunteers two days a week at Niagara Women’s Housing Enterprise Centre.
She will be attending Niagara College in September for its social work program.
The rest of her family is still in Afghanistan. Wakil Balagh said she will never be able to visit them. As long as the Taliban have power in Afghanistan, Wakil Balagh will never be safe, she said.