(left to right): Fran Kelly (ABC Radio National), Rosanna Barbero (Addi Road CEO), Yiana Roumeliotis (Addi Road), Marwa MoEen, Tamkin Hakim (Community Migrant Resource Centre), Linda LoPresti (RN Producer). Photo by Mark Mordue. SCREEN shot: Marwa MoEen, ABC Radio National.
Barely two months ago Marwa MoEen was in hiding in her family apartment, offering shelter to 15 other young women from her university as the Taliban swept into Kabul and seized power.
Her fearful interview as this was happening, live-to-air with ABC Radio National’s Fran Kelly, had a huge impact on listeners.
In a remarkable journey, the 21-year-old was able to engineer her escape from Afghanistan and make her way to Australia – along with most of her family, and the 15 female university friends she protected from the Taliban during those early, disturbing days and nights.
Fran Kelly returned to the story this morning now that Marwa’s journey has brought her to safety in Sydney. Radio National came to Addi Road to interview Marwa, who has been volunteering at our Food Relief Hub inbetween telling her story to everyone that she can. Marwa spoke of how Addi Road had given her a chance “to feel the peace. This is a really good place for me.”
But things are not so simple, despite Marwa’s heroic actions and the good fortune of all those who travelled with her on a very risky journey to freedom. As Marwa explained, “I have a heavy guilt. I am here. I am safe. I have big dreams like I have before. But I am feeling so heavy guilt for the other girls, for the other boys, for my friends, my relatives, my sisters, for everything I left behind in my homeland.”
Fran Kelly asks Marwa MoEen, “So what are you going to do now with all this guilt, with all this sadness?” It’s a deep question in a powerful interview that is well worth your time…
You can tune into the interview here
