Roqia Hashimi and her family fled Afghanistan when the country was seized by the Taliban in 2021. Her husband was in the Afghan army and his life was under threat, so the family had no choice but to leave, says Roqia.
She was pregnant at the time, and the family also included a young son and daughter. They spent a month in Pakistan and then, with the help of the British Embassy, came to the UK. They settled in Penrith in July 2022.
From the very start, Roqia felt welcomed by PERN, she says. She often attends the weekly meetings in the library. ‘They are good for practising my English, and I learn about other people’s cultures over a cup of tea or coffee’.
Roqia and her daughter also go along to the weekly art workshops organised by PERN and BlueJam Arts. ‘My girl enjoys painting very much. Every Saturday she goes to sessions and she has made friends there’.
Roqia has also made friends through PERN and through meeting people on her street. ‘At first’, she says, ‘there were no other Afghans in Penrith. Our neighbours and our PERN family are important to us.’ Roqia’s husband attended a joinery course at Carlisle college, and is now working part-time in hospitality while he seeks work in joinery.
As a mother of three young children Roqia is also busy, though she attends as many PERN events as she can. ‘It is a very good programme for refugees’, she says. ‘We have attended picnics and visits to Lowther Castle where the children enjoyed playing together. Everyone is friendly and we have fun.’
Recently, three more families from Afghanistan have moved to Penrith. Roqia has been helping them settle in and sharing her understanding of the new country in which they are all rebuilding their shattered lives.