Shabibi Shah left Afghanistan in 1982 after her husband, a journalist, suffered persecution at the hands of the Soviet-backed government. She has had several books published in the UK including, 'Where do I belong?' an account of her family's flight from Afghanistan. Shabibi also organises charity fundraising events on a voluntary basis.
When we came to London, I had a lot, a lot, a lot of problems with the language. I actually did not know what to do. My main problem was the language.
The kids because they were young adjusted themselves quickly, actually my daughter for six, seven months would not talk at all, not one word in English. She would go to school and come back home and speak Farsi. Six months my daughter waited, after six months she could speak like an English person. It was weird right? Six months she would say nothing not A to B, after six months she spoke proper English.
My oldest son spoke English, he had learnt and it was interesting for him to be speaking another language. Of course at the age of 16 he was a 'teenager', he was happy to be learning another language and he had the freedom to go outside since these things are different in Afghanistan and life for him, it was interesting for them. My youngest son who was two was not aware of the world. For me, the hardest thing I have come across in my life was not knowing the language.
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