Memory center takes visitors through four decades of Afghan war

KABUL — A teary-eyed Hameed Rafi said he’ll never forget the day he joined a panel of civilian war victims and family members and spoke about the suicide bombing in Kabul that killed his sister in August.

Sharing his story with them in March at the Afghanistan Center for Memory and Dialogue, Rafi recalled how all of the wounded in the attack had been taken to hospitals, so he began searching lists of wounded hanging on hospital walls. But he couldn’t find the name of his sister, 18-year-old Rahila, who had been studying in an education center for her college entrance exam when the attack happened.

Then, a doctor suggested Rafi also search lists of those killed.

“That shocked me, I had never considered that my sister wouldn’t be alive anymore,” he said. But as he learned later, Rahila had perished, he told those who attended the panel discussion.

Rafi’s chance to share his story is at the heart of the memory center’s mission. Opened in February by the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization, it seeks to salvage, protect and share memories and stories of civilian victims of the country’s four decades of war.

The center, located in a small basement of a rental house in west Kabul, contains exhibits reminding visitors of the years of carnage and loss, including drawings, garments, photos and toys with accompanying personal information such as names, places and causes of death or injury.

But the center is also a safe space for family and friends of civilian victims like Rafi to share their stories and preserve the memories of their loved ones. Each family has its own story, but when they listen to the narratives of others, they realize they’re not alone in their pain.

Afghanistan has experienced about 40 years of continuous conflict, which...