“I’d like to be a famous rockstar. In Pakistan, I sang in front of 20.000 people once because I won a singing contest. I speak five languages: Urdu, English, Pashto, Farsi, Dari and Panjabi. I am really good at Taekwondo and love to play football. My parents have always been proud of me. But two years ago, there was a terrorist attack in Parachinar and I got shot; one of the four bullets that hit me is still inside my leg. My parents wanted me to go to Europe to be safe, so I left them and my seven sisters behind. I was hoping to bring my family to Europe and to have a better life together. They all rely on me. Before I left, my mum gave me the band I am wearing around my arm. It contains a page of the Quran and is supposed to protect me.

I was travelling for one month and twelve days until I ended up in Austria. I started my journey with ten other refugees and two leaders. We were walking the whole day, over mountains and through jungles, often without food or water. After we crossed the Turkish border, we sat down to rest. Suddenly the police fired at us. I ran after one of our leaders as fast as I could. Somebody tried to shoot me but I kept checking where he pointed his gun and tried to avoid the shots while running zigzag lines. I was the only one of our group they didn’t catch, but I had to leave my heavy backpack behind. Everything I owned was in there: 1000 Euros, good boots, and clothes.

I was hoping that we could have a better life here. I would like to create something and do meaningful things. I want to get to know local people here, learn German and talk to them. But all I can do is wait. Often, I am hungry and weak and this whole situation has made it hard for me to think and concentrate.

The most important thing for me is my phone. I can’t afford long distance calls to my family with the 40 Euros we get per month. But I can keep in touch with them and my friends on Facebook and WhatsApp. I try to teach myself German with an app, and sometimes at night, I sing to the other people at the camp.”