Naturally, every living person has a goal or a dream. As a child in Afghanistan, I wanted to become a doctor to treat my people in the village. Our village in Ghazni province was far from the city, and people did not have access to medical care. After I was kidnapped by the Taliban and had to flee, I could no longer help my people as a doctor. I was deprived of studying and achieving my goals.

Imagine being a teenage boy who has never travelled from rural Afghanistan. Suffering as a refugee, I saw injustice to asylum seekers. I registered for asylum in Indonesia. For one year, I lived in a shelter called Wisma Satria. Then I was sent to a detention centre – Rumah Detensi Immigrasi Pekanbaru.

When I arrived, the detention centre rooms had a capacity for three to four, but we were eight to 12 people. We had to spend four months in this closed-door jail cell. Our sleeping spot was next to the toilet, and because it was lower than the toilet, sometimes water poured onto us, waking us up.

If I rose to use the toilet and tried to return to sleep, I had to sit straight in my place. In my absence, a little movement of my cellmate filled my place. My only option was to sit by the wall. I was still lucky that people were not on either side. I had to wait until my friend made another move in his sleep to wedge myself in again. Sometimes, he did not move, which meant a night dozing sitting up against the wall.

Despite my challenges in the detention centre, I decided to study and improve my English. I had old books, dictionaries from other refugees, pens, and notebooks from before the detention centre.

Understandably, many refugees were depressed. I was the only one waking up early in our room while others slept till 11 or noon. At first, I memorized basic vocabulary every morning. Now, dozens of refugees tell me kind words about how hard I studied in the detention centre.

I kept studying throughout my detention. Days, months and years passed until we were transferred to accommodation housing. [Accommodation housing resembles a motel room with two beds, a bathroom, and a shared communal kitchen.]

Once I was released from detention, I didn’t quit studying and improving my English skills. I attended many classes, took an online English course, and did many upgrading activities. After several months, I decided to be helpful to others at a lower level, so I offered English classes for refugee children and adults.

At the same time, I improved my Indonesian language and accompanied my refugee friends to the hospital, helping them with translation.

Being helpful gives me a special feeling. We grow by lifting others. In the last nine-plus years in the detention centre and accommodation housing, I have been trying to avoid stress and depression, and instead, I have been using my time doing positive things.

When I arrive in Canada, I want to become a public speaker and a writer. I want to study human rights so that I can do something positive and helpful for people who are targeted and persecuted. I want to be the voiceless people’s voice.

Thousands of refugees like me are suffering on different parts of this earth. My goal is to contribute to developing my new home and my new country, the place that will welcome me. I have many plans for the future because I believe Canada is a country that gives me such an opportunity.

I am grateful to Canada’s government and the honourable people for allowing me to study and live peacefully in their beloved country. I hope they will give the same opportunity to other refugees living in the Indonesian detention system.

Qayum Sultani was forced to flee his country Afghanistan and became a refugee when he was 18 years old. He just turned 27. Depending on the speed of the Canadian immigration system, he will probably be 28 or 29 years old when he arrives in Canada.