"The Taliban tried to kill me at 16.Eight years later, I am free in Canada."

I ATTENDED A PRIVATE ENGLISH SCHOOL in the Jaghori District of Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

- Shams Erfan

We'd walk for hours just to reach the old, two-storey mud building where we'd learn Englisha language the Taliban consider to be the tongue of traitors and occupiers. In 2013, when I was 15, I graduated from advanced classes and got a job teaching basic English there. More than 400 students attended classes each week.

In February of 2014, I left home for what should have been a short trip to buy books in Kabul. My brother Rohullah woke up as I was leaving. We didn't know it would be years before we'd see each other again.

I boarded a bus at the station. As we crossed onto the highway, two men on motorcycles stopped us. They had long hair, with eyes painted black, robes and guns slung over their shoulders. They ordered me off the bus. One shouted, "Are you the servant of Westerners, teaching English to Muslim children?" The Taliban have intelligence networks in every district; someone must've reported me.