last photo

Hey Thomas! Do you have our fotos?

Three Afghans, each in turn, shook hands with me. I, Tom, was standing on the sidewalk in front of the Oasis . Three weeks ago at Coffee bar I pulled out my camera and took fotos of many of the refugees at Coffee bar. It is impossible to take just one foto of an Afghan in a room filled with them. And so began the foto shoot

I make it a habit to give every refugee a copy of the fotos I take of them. It serves as a connection for me. For the refugees I hope it helps them remember the Oasis and the good contact they’ve had with us. I think my fotos get sent back to relatives in their countries of origin.

At coffee Bar that night I noticed one man was quiet and always on the sidelines of the activity. I noticed this and so turned to him and asked…Jus one foto of you? He nodded his head in agreement and I snapped the foto to the left. He seemed glad to have been noticed.

The ensuing days hurried on until these three Afghans came down the street and asked about their promised pictures…

They laughed and said thanks as they saw themselves and I handed them their copies. I started thumbing through another envelope of fotos and they pointed to this foto and said…

”Oh him, he’s not here anymore.”

I asked what they meant by that..was he moved on in the system or did he try to go to a different country?

“Oh no,” one of the English speak ing Afghans,”They put him in the detention center for deportation. They didn’t believe his case. He killed himself in that place.”

I could feel my heart sinking as I absorbed the information and kept looking at his picture. I was stunned and saddened beyond words.

“Thomas, could I have one of the fotos to send to his relatives?”

Yes of course I reply and I tuck the other one in my coat pocket for myself…

“The way is Heli-muschkel (very difficult)” one of the Afghan refugees says as they turn and head back to the camp.

Indeed it is…