Rahulla Torabi, 59, is married and has a daughter. He came to Germany when he was sixteen years old. After completing his education, he trained as a motor vehicle mechatronics technician. Later, due to his interest in works of art, Rahulla moved to Frankfurt to study art at the Städelschule. “I do a lot for my own life. I practice very different activities. I devote a lot of time and space for myself to develop personally. Everything I do always has a connection to life and the love associated with it. I use the power of creativity, that is, art,” he says. Rahulla is the artistic director of a sculpture workshop for young people in Frankfurt and has his own art studio.

As Rahulla gets older, the more he is convinced that the people of Afghanistan have a high level of creativity. “We see this in their way of living, expressing themselves and creating things. I met a poet who could not write. I met a draughtsman who was almost blind.” For him personally, the first sixteen years in Afghanistan were particularly formative. “I saw landscapes, heard sounds and listened to languages. I smelled things that I would never smell again.” Rahulla looks for new things through which to express his art and creativity. “It could be a photograph, a drawing, a painting, a video or building different objects into a sculpture.”

Rahulla attributes his successful integration into Germany to his mother’s organizational skills. “For me personally, the role of my mother is an example of strength, creativity and assertiveness. My mother is an example for many mothers and women from Afghanistan who struggle for a better life for their children. This strength is still very inspiring for me today. I make use of it in everyday life and it is a very big building block for me, along with my personal memory of the country, Afghanistan, and my mother.” He quickly learned to understand local German culture and values, and that has helped him avoid major problems. “The truth is that there are no problems without solutions and vice versa,” he says. Besides creating works of art, Rahullah supports his compatriots here in Germany by helping them with translation and interpreting. “I express the feelings and emotions they have in their hearts but are unable to express in German, a foreign language to them. The countless personal experiences that I have gathered here in Germany through my work and my encounters with society now belong to my fellow countrymen.”

He believes that every person arriving in a foreign country requires substantial assistance. “The new wave of Afghans arriving in Germany have a different background from us. The new refugees coming from Afghanistan have had a different physical and psychological experience for 40 years than I have here in Europe. They also need help and support. Currently, all assistance and support in Germany revolves around time, housing, and finances. The systemic failure in dealing with refugees has been a constant in Germany since I have lived here. And so has the way society deals with the issue of refugees, depending on social/political communication with society. This is where the support system falls short. People’s expectations also evolve.”

Rahulla thinks the current situation in Afghanistan is not forever. “Afghanistan has always been a plaything for different interests, it is a plaything at the moment, and will remain a plaything in the future. What we Afghans in the diaspora can and must do is shape Afghanistan here and now in such a way that it does not quickly become a pawn of ideologies, politics or other interests again,” he says, and continues, “Afghanistan is very lucky to be such a beautiful country. But at the same time, Afghanistan is also very unlucky to be surrounded by such neighbors.”

Rahulla remembers the sound of the people’s language and the many customs from his time in Afghanistan. He also recalls how honeydew melons were transported through the Salang Pass to Kabul. “In my culture and language, there is a saying: ‘Life is five days long.’ It means that every morning when you wake up, you should make firm plans for the next five days and firmly believe that everything will be fine. I don’t worry about anything else.” In Germany, “I am a father, an artist, and someone who works, pays taxes, and fulfils all his obligations, like almost anyone anywhere else,” Rahulla says.

Rahulla loves to work, even on other things outside of his job. However, he also enjoys spending time not working. “I prefer to drink tea and spend time with my family and in the studio. I’m interested in old Swedish cars. I have two or three of them. It gives me the opportunity to be physically active as well as to drink tea.”

“Life is here and now. We have changed. We have grown older. Things that seemed easy in the past are big challenges today. I think it’s a shame that many people immediately look at their watches when you ask them to have a cup of tea with you in the late afternoon.”