“I just started this painting of (a) beautiful girl as usual, because I love to show the beautiful aspects of my people, my culture and our beautiful children,” she said. “I started sketching and painting, and I colored my eyes. After a couple of days … they took over Kabul and I had so much pain in my heart.”
Rahmani and his family arrived in America four years ago with special immigrant visas (SIV). His father worked in an American company. Now Rahmani goes to U.S. civil engineering school and enjoys art as a hobby.
Prior to moving, Rahmani had also taken civil engineering classes in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where he lived most of his life. “I’m sorry about my college and the girls who worked with me there,” she said. . “They’re really frustrated and really in a bad situation. They don’t know what will happen to their future.”
Rahmani said many of the young women I went to college with worked in offices, but are now unemployed and in trouble. They have told him that they cannot bring what they want and that they need to be escorted by a man when they leave their house.
When Rahmani looked at his painting, his voice was full of emotions.
The image of Sara Rahmani represents the fall of her land into the hands of the Taliban. Credit: sara_official_artgallery / Instagram
At the bottom left of the painting he incorporated the colors of the national flag of Afghanistan. Rahmani said two women wear traditional dresses, with braids and jewelry that showcase the country’s rich culture. One does a traditional dance that Afghans usually perform at special events such as weddings, while the other writes “peace” in Farsi, using the black part of the Afghan flag as a blackboard.
Rahmani then pointed to the girl in the center of the image.
“This is the portrait of the girl I started, and she really became sad,” he said. “You see the good side, when it has a light of light: everything is the good side of my Afghanistan before the Taliban took over our country. She is a happy girl and has dirty hands to play with other children.”
Pointing to the yellow flower at the top, Rahmani said, “And this is a beautiful flower he is receiving from his grandfather.” The girl’s head scarf is green: the color of peace, joy and happiness for Afghans, he explained. “It’s a blue sky full of peace, sunny days, happiness and birds flying instead of army planes.”
Looking up at his images, he said, “To be in America, I feel better here. But at the same time it’s not your country. You feel weird. Your language is different, your culture. Everything is different. , even if you have financial peace of mind … something is missing in your heart: this is your homeland. Nothing can replace it. “
Tears formed and began to fall down Rahmani’s cheeks. “I want the world to know that … there are innocent people who die. They lose mothers, they lose children … when will this end?”
Rahmani said he now thinks of his family and friends who remain in the country. “During those ten days, I’ve lost count. We’re just concentrating on getting our families out of Afghanistan. It’s horrible there.”