After months and months of seemingly no action or results, David, Mansour and I decided to try and take things into our own hands.

At this stage Mansour had grown in courage and in his desire to unearth any information possible about what had happened to his family. He reached the decision to travel back to Peshawar in search of answers and of people who might assist him in his quest. Not a small feat, considering his young age, returning to the place and people who separated him from loved ones 5 years earlier.

Peshawar is a hustle and bustle of some 3 million people – refugees, aid workers, ordinary citizens, and the Taliban. Mansour left with apprehension, yet determined to come back with more than he left with.  

The city hit him with a shock. The sounds, smells and sights jostled his memories of flight, reawakening the moments of fear and uncertainty he had pushed through before.

Trekking through the streets, Mansour began looking for places he could remember and faces that might reveal any clues. As imagined, stalking through a landscape of millions of people brought little hope, and Mansour’s spirit waned with the disappointment. But yet, he kept on.

With his departure pending only days later, Mansour finally stumbled upon a person he remembered, a face that had burned onto his retina 5 years earlier: The trafficker that had sent Mansour away, promising that his family would follow closely behind, suddenly stood before him.

Building up the courage to approach the guy, a known trafficker and dangerous man, Mansour went before him and demanded his attention. “You sent me away 5 years ago, promising that my family would follow behind. They never came. What happened?”

Through persistence and bribery, Mansour was able to push aside the trafficker’s indifference and arrange for information to be shared with him the following morning. He retreated for a long and sleepless night.

Next morning, Mansour went off in pursuit of knowledge, with more than a little fear and apprehension.  

…To be continued

David and Christopher