User Story

By Hamid Tookhee

I was born in Herat, Afghanistan on May 20, 1984, with my twin brother, Rashed. I have 4 older brothers and 5 sisters. When I was young I had a dream of being a pilot but this dream was not possible because in my country there was lots of fighting. People have been fighting in Afghanistan for over 30 years.

I went to a high school named after a famous poet, Jami. This was an all-boys school. I studied common subjects like math, science, religion and sports and worked at a pharmacy part-time. After high school, I worked there full-time. I really liked working there because it was very interesting.

Then, my mom decided to sponsor me and my 2 brothers to come to Canada, because we did not know if we would be safe in our country. I arrived in Edmonton in August 2008. I thought that Edmonton was a noisy city. But then I came, and it was so quiet. "Does anybody live here?" It was very hard at first because I couldn't speak English. I was mute and deaf. I did not understand anything. I have to say thank you to the Mennonite Centre, to my teachers, and the government. They helped me come to Canada and now I am learning English to talk at work and with people.

To see Hamid read excerpts from his story, watch the video story about the International Day of Sharing Stories hosted by the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights.