“Scusate, don’t you have two white coats? We would feel more at ease … ». Thus begins our meeting with Mahtab, 40, and Sahar, 34, Afghan gynecologists in force until last August al Herat Center for Breast Cancer Diagnosisopened in 2013 by Umberto Veronesi Foundation and closed with the Taliban advance in northwestern Afghanistan for fear of retaliation against all-female personnel.
Afghan gynecologists in the horror of Kabul
Evacuated hastily together with the rest of the staff and families, and landed in Rome on 19 August with the last military flights from Kabul thanks to the commitment of the Foundation and the Italian Embassy, after six months the Afghan doctors agree to talk about each other, with the help of an interpreter.
Dark, beautiful eyes that often get moist, offer their testimony by thinking to the voiceless colleagues left at the mercy of the Taliban regime, deprived of all rights and confined to the house (just think of the ban on traveling more than 72 kilometers from the home unless accompanied by a close relative, yet another restrictive interpretation of Islamic law by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of vice).
Forced to leave everything and everyone
“The frantic search for opaque hjiab to hide our identities, the abandonment of patients, the farewell to the dumbfounded family members, the front door hastily closed behind the most cherished memories, the horror of the last hours in the streets of Kabul , between checkpoints and gunshots … These are images that cannot be erased»Says Mahtab, coordinator of the Center and mother of four children – the youngest of just over a year, the oldest of 10 – who arrived in Italy with her husband, an art teacher, and her brother engineer, currently visiting professor at the State of Milan.
Afghan women: “But at least we’re alive”
“We left everything, we landed in Italy only with the clothes we were wearing, a degree and documents tucked into our hand luggage. We used to live off our workwe drove the car, we had a comfortable home, we were able to help even less fortunate relatives. Now we have to start from scratch. I have to be honest, not all days are good. But we are alive, our loved ones are alive. Little by little we even begin to imagine a future“.
Hosted in a secure center of Ark project a few kilometers from Milan, after having obtained refugee status and municipal housing, they try to study thinking about tomorrow. A tomorrow that for both is called Medicine.
The Afghans trusted their doctors
“Our day started early. A quick coffee with my mother and my sister, also a gynecologist, then rushed to the Breast Center. There was always a long line of patients waiting for usRecalls Sahar. «Every day a few more were added: we were a point of reference, we offered a quality and completely free service, which was lacking in our province. Word got out, the women were happy to come to us, finally someone took care of their health. They trusted. And the men too: the clinic was next door at the Maternal and Infant Hospital of Herat, our staff was all female, we also welcomed children in the waiting room. We did ultrasound scans, mammograms, cytological samples, sending our data to the hospital in Perugia where we had attended a training course (quality control was handled by Apof, the Association of Cross-Border Pathologists, ed.) “.
Women in the service of women
A lighthouse in the night in a country of 38 million of inhabitants where people die above all from infectious diseases, anti-personnel mines, firearms, and health care is not guaranteed, especially for women. A few numbers provided by Mahtab give the idea: «In eight years we have followed over nine thousand patients. We started with just one ultrasound, then the mammograph donated by the Veronesi Foundation arrived, and finally the cytology service. Besides us doctors there were a biologist, two radiology technicians, a data manager, plus a receptionist. Do you think about it? Women in the service of other women. Now all this is gone. According to the WHO, in Afghanistan every year there are 2300 deaths from breast cancer and three thousand new diagnoses: who will assist our patients? ».
The pain of leaving everything behind
“After the surgery, in the afternoon I moved to a clinic where I gave birth to children, gynecological operations, caesareans. In the evening I would return home exhausted, but my little ones were there to revitalize me, their stories, their homework to finish: every corner of the house rang with their calls “mom come here”, “mom, look what I did today!” Continues Mahtab.
“I have always tried to balance my professional and family activities, to be a good mother and wife as well as a good doctor even though, to be honest, I am aware that I have spent more time looking after my patients, thinking about theirs. health. We gynecologists were loved and respected, we moved freely, our work was in great demand. But lately the situation has been increasingly tense. Returning each evening, we made sure that brothers, sisters, and relatives returned to their homes in peace. Until at the beginning of the summer we began to feel that those who collaborated with international organizations were no longer safe.
All the more reason we, Afghan women and health workers. The last few days at the Center have been a nightmare: as the Taliban advanced towards Herat, tales of their atrocities, of retaliation against civilians, families continued to arrive. One day someone had knocked on my mother’s door: they were looking for me. At that point we got together, and we asked the Veronesi Foundation for help: we all agreed, all that remained was to close the Center, flee to the capital, think about expatriation.
Leaving that clinic built with so much effort was very difficult, I felt like I was dying. But the situation was getting worse. We absolutely had to take one of the last flights to Kabul. So we quickly filled up a few bags. Then I looked at our house for the last time trying to impress its smell in my memory: everything was in order, the beds made, my beautiful teapots on the shelf, the dishes washed. I couldn’t close that door, insert the keys, my hands were shaking. I asked a friend to do it for me. “
The terrible hours at the airport
In the capital, the first attempt at expatriation on the day of August 15th did not go through. Only three days later, Mahtab, Sahar and their colleagues with their families manage to embark on a military face for Rome. An exodus with thousands of desperate people pressed at the entrance to the airport. It is Sahar who says: «Of those last nightmare hours I can hardly speakI only remember the prayers, the certainty of dying with every shot, the Taliban checkpoints, the children of Mahtab crying in terror. Then the gate, the maddened crowd, the frantic departure with people clinging to trolleys, our few things abandoned on the ground, without food for 36 hours straight – only for the little ones Mahtab had brought some powdered milk -, the tension, the flight ».
Salvation on an Air Force flight
“Only when we got off the flight ladder in Rome did we realize we were safe,” recalls Sahar. «On the ground there was Monica’s friendly face to welcome us (Monica Ramaioli, general manager of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, who in the past had organized staff training for the opening of the Herat Center, ed.). And then the smell of pasta and spiced rice, plenty of food and water for everyone, some spare T-shirts, clean toilets, the Carabinieri who let the children play… It seemed like a dream. But at the slightest noise I jumped, I still had the sound of explosions in my ears ».
The scent of home in a mint tea
“At first we were disoriented and disoriented. The first days in the reception center were not easy: few spaces where to learn to live together, without ever going out so as not to attract attention »admits Mahtab. «He gave us the strength to hope for the solidarity of the Italians. The proximity of the volunteers, the women of the Foundation, who bought the clothes we were used to for us, found these chadors with soft and bright tones, recovered colors and brushes for my brother, who is a painter. In the sheltered accommodation they also bring us the shopping. So now I cook for everyone, I make my curry rice with chicken like I never had time to do in Herat. And the children are finally relaxing, with us parents all day next to them, they play carefree. One of the children, who has a major health problem, was taken care of by a specialized center here in Milan. The moment I saw the specialists take care of my son with such care, I realized that all this was worth it ».
For Sahar, for the mother and the sister, after the documents were made, a council accommodation arrived. “We made mint tea as soon as you enter. And when the scent of him spread in the air we said to each other, well, here too is home. Then we went out shopping by ourselves – first the others brought us the food. We found a spice shop with familiar flavors, simple little things that give you the meaning of life. Now our goal is to learn Italian well, essential for the recognition of the degree, which requires four rather demanding exams. Anyone who has studied medicine, dedicating years and evenings to books, knows well the value of this profession, the passion for the profession. Impossible to give it up ».
And Mahtab adds: «Preparing the exams in English would have been easier, but we will do whatever it takes to be able to go back to being doctors. Italy saved our lives, those of our family members. We look forward to returning this supreme good. To save yours, lives“. Starting over with a white coat.
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