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Ibrahim , Afghanistan
One day , the Commander took Ibrahim to visit his parents . Ibrahim wanted to tell them what he had to endure , but the man was always present . Moreover , he was very ashamed , and feared his parents ’ reaction . However , Ibrahim ’ s parents realised that something was wrong : their son seemed so nervous and frightened , and seemed changed . They asked for a few minutes alone with him as they were about to say goodbye . Even though he was struggling with feelings of shame and guilt , he managed to tell them briefly what was going on . His parents were shocked and confused but understood the severity of the situation . His father used the opportunity to smuggle him out of the house and the village .
Having hidden Ibrahim , the family decided to send him out of the country . Ibrahim was very much in favour of this , because he knew the Commander would look for him and was afraid that he might be caught again and punished severely for escaping .
The family was able to borrow enough money from relatives to pay some men to get Ibrahim abroad . He went via Pakistan to Iran , and then Turkey . An uncle had been living in Turkey for a few years , so Ibrahim stayed with him for a while . He worked for a few months in a cardboard factory . Having saved some money , Ibrahim left Turkey . With a small group of other refugees , he escaped by boat to a Greek island . He could not swim , was constantly anxious , and someone in his group drowned during the journey . In Greece , he lived at first in a refugee camp , but fled when it was announced that the authorities intended to send everyone back and travelled further north .
He now had no money . Worse , the trafficker who was to help him heard about his past in Afghanistan as a “ bacha bazi ”. He threatened to leave Ibrahim behind if he disobeyed him , and took advantage of the situation to abuse him , as did the man ’ s female partner . Ibrahim found this very humiliating and confusing , especially the woman ’ s involvement . During his earlier abuse in Afghanistan , Ibrahim had learned to dream when horrible things happened , so he “ disappeared ” this time too . He lived in a kind of fog . To make his situation worse , the trafficker told Ibrahim that , if he ever said anything , the trafficker and his partner would say that Ibrahim was responsible for abusing the woman . Ibrahim realised that no-one would believe him , because he was worth nothing . He lost almost all hope of being able to get a better life .
He ended up in a country with an unfamiliar culture and language . At first , he found it very difficult to trust people and was very anxious . He was settled in a house that offers help to minors because he had not yet turned 18 . Here he was taught the language and got to know other young people . The adults who ran the house listened to him without judging . They were able to explain to Ibrahim why he still struggled so much , though he was now safe . Eventually he was able to start school , and now has plans for his education . He feels more at ease and has finally started to find some peace .
But he still struggles with mood swings , and at times gets quite angry , without having control over himself , without understanding why , apparently for no reason . He has nightmares and flashbacks , and still finds it difficult to trust people . He is sad that he has lost part of his childhood . He becomes impatient when people do not understand his inner pain . He can suddenly experience memories from the past that overwhelm him , when he feels that everything that happened is happening again . Sometimes he has this feeling when someone smokes near him , when voices are raised , or there is a lot of noise . He wants a girlfriend , but this thought makes him very scared , and pictures of previous abuse come up strongly . He is often frustrated that he still feels so unsettled . Sometimes he has thoughts of ending his life ; but these thoughts now come rarely and disappear quickly .