back-to-square-one: Back to Square One
by Robert Knoth
Kalam Niso with Noori (3), Khalil (yrs) and Nazifa (4). Three months earlier five of Kalam Niso’s sons had left the house looking for work elsewhere. When they didn’t return their father left as well. “The commander of the village gave us two kg of wheat, but we have eaten these”, Kalam Niso said. She had still not received any food or any other news about the whereabouts of her sons and husband. “Only God knows if they will come back”, she said. In her garden was the only fruit tree of the entire village. “Apricots have a short season, after that we won’t have anything left to eat. My children are hungry but I don’t even have a goat or a sheep to slaughter. Nobody can help us”.
