“Through my poems, I wanted a sense of recognition”: Afghan unaccompanied refugee minors’ experiences of poetic writing, migration, and resettlement

ABSTRACT

This paper concerns young adults who came to Sweden from Afghanistan as unaccompanied refugee minors (UMs) and their engagement with poetry and other creative activities. The aim was to explore how UMs use poetic writing and other creative activities to handle resettlement challenges. Seven young men and six young women, aged 18–24, participated in semi-structured interviews. The material was analyzed using the three components of poetry therapy, developed by Mazza. Three themes were identified: (1) Encouragement; (2) Creative expressions as a “safe place”; and (3) A sense of recognition. Through creative expressions, our participants could understand and handle the emotional difficulties and the insecurity associated with resettlement. Poetic writing was a way to convey personal experiences of injustices, a source of self-understanding, and a way to establish new social networks. We discuss and present suggestions on how poetry and other creative activities can be integrated in interventions toward UMs.

KEYWORDS:

• Afghanistan
• belonging
• creative activities
• meaning-making
• poetry
• Sweden
• unaccompanied refugee minors

At the end of 2019, the number of refugees worldwide was estimated to be 79.5 million (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) (UNHCR), (UNHCR, 2020). Sweden has for a long time been important for refugee reception (Seidel & James, 2019) and was one of the European countries that received the most refugees during the so-called refugee “crisis” in 2015 (Wernesjö, 2019). Since then, polarized discussions have however emerged, and refugee reception has become more restrictive (Varvin, 2017; Wernesjö, 2019).

Approximately half of the refugee population consists of children and women and a significant proportion is unaccompanied refugee minors (UMs). 37% of all children who arrived in Europe between January and June 2020 were UMs (UNHCR, 2020). An UM is defined as “a person who is under the age of eighteen … and who is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who by law or custom has responsibility to do so” (UNHCR, 1994, p. 121). A significant number of UMs who claimed asylum in Sweden during the last years were from Afghanistan (Seidel & James, 2019).

Migration is a complex process and to find a place in a new country means that one goes through a series of crises (Herz & Lalander, 2017; Varvin, 2017; Wernesjö, 2015). The process involves hope, loss, longing, search for meaning as well as recognition of what one has been through (Imran et al., 2020; Wernesjö, 2012). The process also includes grief, fear, anger, and adverse perceptions of oneself, others, and the world (Soulsby et al., 2021). Those complex reactions are understandable responses to an extremely stressful situation (Horwitz & Wakefield, 2007). Nevertheless, researchers often approach UMs with a focus on diagnoses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression (e.g. Ascher et al., 2019; Mohwinkel et al., 2018). Others (e.g. Hosseini & Punzi, 2021a; Wernesjö, 2012) have focused on capacity and agency, highlighting the impact of relationships, connectedness, concrete support, and meaningful activities for UMs to achieve satisfying lives. Still others (Clacherty, 2019; Emert, 2013; Korjonen-Kuusipuro et al., 2019; Norton & Sliep, 2019) have explored the experiences of UMs through a creative approach. Korjonen-Kuusipuro et al. (2019) in collaboration with the Finnish artist Anne Lihavainen and the Mexican artist Rosamaria, arranged art workshops involving UMs together with Finnish peers. The project supported transcultural interaction and mutual understanding. The authors highlighted how creative approach reduced language barriers and provided opportunities for the participants to express themselves freely. Furthermore, Clacherty (2019), Norton and Sliep (2019), and Emert (2013) investigated activities based on art-making and/or storytelling, together with UMs. Clacherty (2019) argues that it is important to use art-based activities in research concerning UMs since such activities permit UMs to define themselves instead of being defined by others, including researchers. For young people in crisis, engagement with poetry may reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation (Slaughter & Brummel, 2019; Soulsby et al., 2021).

Poetry, healing, and the poetry tradition within the Afghan culture

Poetry can fulfill different purposes – it can be therapeutic, it can be a testimony, a resource, or a rebellious expression to amend injustices (Collins, 2016; Olszewska, 2015). Poetic writing may also be used in mental health care to support recovery, well-being, hope, and meaning (Punzi, 2020; Soulsby et al., 2021). Moreover, writing is an opportunity for people in marginalized positions to tell their own stories (Stickley et al., 2019).

A growing literature supports the use of creative arts to improve mental health, wellbeing, and recovery (Baker et al., 2018; Glavin & Montgomery, 2017). Poetic writing might for example be useful for parents who have lost a child (Barak & Leichtentritt, 2016). Through writing poetry, parents could relate to feelings and thoughts associated with the loss. Furthermore, writing was described as a way to find and construct meaning, and to stabilize and integrate conflicting emotions. Understanding a traumatic event through poetic writing can create a coherent narrative, which can contribute to a sense of meaning and understanding (Croom, 2015). Considering all the losses, UMs have been through, poetic writing could reasonably support hope, healing, and meaning-making among them. Simultaneously, poetry can generate a dialogue with the community and contribute recognition of what one has been through (Barak & Leichtentritt, 2016). For example, young Afghan refugee poets in Iran use poetry as a testimony. Through their poems, they illuminated racism, harassment, and humiliation, and gave voice to the collective suffering of the Afghan people within the Iranian society (Olszewska, 2015).

Every culture has a history of storytelling (Stickley et al., 2019). Poetry, both spoken and written, has a long tradition in Afghanistan and is central to the Afghan culture (Collins, 2016; Imran et al., 2020). Poetry’s unique status within the Afghan culture is highlighted in the expression “Sha'er mega” (The poet says) which is used to substantiate an argument and to highlight its importance (Zuzanna, 2007). Poetry has also been recognized as a form of rebellious expression for women and girls in Afghanistan, who endure extreme unequal conditions (Collins, 2016). For Afghan women, poetry has been a way to display these inequalities and has also been a tool for the feminist movements in Afghanistan as well as around the world (Collins, 2016; Imran et al., 2020). An illustration of this is the Afghan women’s underground resistance organization Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) which has been active in Afghanistan since 1970 (Brodsky, 2003). RAWA highlights the importance of Afghan women's poetry and shows how their poetry can be tools for rebellious expression for women to achieve human rights and social justice in Afghanistan (Brodsky, 2003).

Background of this paper

This paper is part of a project in which we investigate how young Afghan men and women, who came to Sweden as UMs, understand integration, and how integration could be enhanced. We have conducted interviews with seven young men and six young women, who came to Sweden as UMs between 2013 and 2016. It emerged that several of them used various creative expressions, not least poetry writing, to handle migration and resettlement. In two prior papers, we have presented the participants' understanding of integration and their ideas on how UMs can be supported. In this paper, we specifically focus on the parts of the interviews that concern writing and other creative activities. The aim is to gain knowledge regarding how and why UMs use poetry and other creative activities, the impact of these activities, and to present suggestions on how interventions aimed at UMs may integrate writing and other creative activities. To gain such knowledge, we approach the experiences or our participants from the perspective of poetry therapy (Mazza, 2003).

Materials and methods

Participants and procedure

In qualitative studies that explore life experiences, all participants should be represented in the final report. To ensure this, a number of (3–16) participants are recommended (Robinson, 2014).

Six young women, 19–24 years old, and seven young men 18–23 years old participated in the research project. By the time of the interviews, they had lived in Sweden from 3 to 7 years. Some of them had grown up in Iran, but all participants defined themselves “Afghans”. Eleven of them studied at the high school level, one had a full-time job, and one was in an introductory school program. Further details about the participants are excluded to protect their privacy. Four of them wrote poetry, two wrote short stories, two were engaged in painting, one used music and lyrics as a creative expression, and one expressed an ambition to find a place to construct “something” together with other teenagers. This paper concerns the ten participants who engaged in creative activities.

Inclusion criteria were (1) being from Afghanistan, (2) having a permanent residence in Sweden, (3) being 18 years or older, (4) having come to Sweden as an UM, (5) having been in Sweden for at least 3 years. The participants were recruited through non-governmental organizations aimed at UMs. Information sheets describing the study were administered. These sheets included contact information to the interviewer who is of Afghan origin and speaks both Dari and Swedish, and who is also the first author. UMs who were interested in additional information or who wanted to participate were encouraged to contact the interviewer via e-mail, mobile, or social media. Those who were interested were given information about the aim of the study. The location of the interview was decided in consultation with each participant. The interviews were conducted in five different cities in Swedish, between July and August 2019. Before the interview began, the participants were informed that participation was voluntary and that they could cancel their participation at any time without giving any explanation. Before the interview started, the participants approved participation by signing the letter of consent.

Interviews

The interviews aimed to encourage the participants to talk about their unique experiences of integration and resettlement. They were encouraged to tell their narrative on their conditions. The initial question was “Can you please tell me about your first time in Sweden?”. Thereafter, the interview covered the following topics: (1) everyday life experiences and understanding of integration; (2) experiences of interventions and activities that promote integration; and (3) advice concerning how UMs can be supported. For each topic, there were follow-up questions. One such follow-up question was “have you used any creative activity during the migration and resettlement process?”. Some participants spoke about creative activities spontaneously. Those who did not talk about creative activities spontaneously were asked this specific question.

All participants but two chose to speak Dari. The interviews were between 65 and 85 min long. With the participants’ permission, they were audio recorded. Thereafter, the interviews were transcribed verbatim by the first author and the interviews in Dari were translated to Swedish.

Analysis

All parts from the interview transcripts that concerned creative expression and activities were identified and subject to analysis. The material was analyzed from the perspective of the poetry therapy model (Mazza, 2003) and its three components, which address cognitive, affective, behavioral, and spiritual domains of human experience. The first component is called receptive. Here the persons engage with existing poetry, literature, and other artistic expressions. The second component is called expressive. Here, the persons express themselves and their emotions through writing poetry, letters, diaries, and stories, and through other creative activities such as visual art or music. The third component is called the symbolic. Here, symbols, metaphors, rituals, and performances are used. Those components become a model for dealing with difficulties, challenges, or traumatic life events (Mazza & Hayton, 2013).

In the first step of the analysis, the transcribed material was read and re-read in its entirety and statements about creative activities and expressions were noted. In a second step, these statements were analyzed line by line and initial codes were created. Here, the analysis was guided by asking whether UM’s engagement could be understood as receptive, expressive, or symbolic. Simultaneously, the analysis was flexible enough to identify unexpected issues to evolve from the interviews. In the third step, codes with similar content were grouped into preliminary subthemes. In the fourth step, these subthemes were grouped into the general themes that are to be presented. Here, some subthemes and themes were revised, and others merged. Thereby, the three themes that are presented below were formulated. In the final step, relevant quotes were identified and integrated into the presentation.

Ethical considerations

Research with persons in vulnerable positions requires thorough ethical considerations (Wernesjö, 2015). Interviews with UMs may evoke difficult memories from the country of origin, the journey, or the resettlement. Simultaneously, it is important to highlight capacities and agency, not least to reduce prejudice about UMs (Eide et al., 2018; Wernesjö, 2019). Accordingly, ethical considerations are not only about protecting participants from potential harm but also about providing a nuanced presentation of UMs and their challenges. One way to achieve this is to highlight the migrants “own voices” about experiences and agency and the complexity of their lives (Lalander & Herz, 2018; Wernesjö, 2012).

The interviewer, who is a licensed psychologist, has experience of encountering young people in vulnerable positions and was prepared to handle negative reactions. No such reactions however occurred, and no participant expressed or signaled any wish to avoid questions or cancel participation.

This study was approved by the Regional Ethics Review Board, Gothenburg.

Results

The following three themes were identified: (1) Encouragement, (2) Creative expressions as a “safe place”, (3) A sense of recognition. All themes are illustrated with quotes from the participants. When / … / is used, it means that parts of the quotation have been deleted, either because the participant spoke about other topics or to protect anonymity.

Encouragement

All participants described their first period in Sweden as marked by longing for family members and places they had left behind, and uncertainty about the future. They had an experience of being in between. Some participants were encouraged by adults around them to break this state of being in between by engaging in creative activities, either alone or together with peers. Legal guardians, teachers, and staff members at accommodations had a significant role in terms of encouraging them and also to concretely guide them to get in contact with social contexts where they could explore and work with creative activities. Those social contexts could be associations governed by UMs themselves, as well organizations such as Save the Children and The Red Cross. Other participants wished that adults they encountered had been more active in guiding them to use and be curious about creative exploration and how this could strengthen them. One participant said “When I was new, I didn’t know that a pen and a piece of paper could help you feeling better”.

Our participants underlined the need for “meeting places” to develop their potentials but also to discuss and work on creative projects together with peers. Furthermore, the participants emphasized that the practical and social skills they learned through creative work could “be directly linked to future jobs”. They mentioned the opportunities to learn and work together with others in a group but also to practice and learn the Swedish language. Involvement in creative activities with peers could also generate new friendships and a larger social network, something that according to our participants is crucial for experiences of integration. They also described how access to a social context and friends was associated with a sense of “normality” in relation to peers. The following quote illustrates the benefits of encouragement and of having access to a social context.

I believe many young people have a potential for creativity and they want to engage with music or painting, but they do not have places and contexts to go to in order to work on their ideas and develop their creativity / … / I think it would be good if there were “meeting places” where we could go and work with something creative. There, we could hang out and meet new friends. There, we could organize seminars and create small projects together.

Creative expressions as a “safe place”

Creative activities could also be a “safe place” during periods of uncertainty and loneliness. In this “safe place”, the participants could express themselves and reflect on the difficulties they faced. The participants described experiences of relief, optimism, and curiosity, as well as uncertainty when they arrived in Sweden. They also experienced sadness, loneliness, and longing for family members. When describing experiences of loneliness, one participant related that “sometimes I wished someone could just talk to me, preferably in my own mother tongue”. As time went by, they however learned to handle worries and loneliness. Creative writing about their life situation gave them a sense of comfort and helped them to handle difficult emotions. The participants understood creative writing as a channel for expressing difficult emotions, as well as hope and joy. One participant related that “Even until today, when I feel sad or happy, I usually write. When I write, it somehow feels as if my thoughts and feelings are in a safe place”. Another participant described how writing helped her to deal with her longing for her mother, specifically during her first time in Sweden. Below is a poem she wrote which we have her consent to share. She wrote it in Swedish, and we have translated it.

Near and far

It has been a hundred years without you

and I'm still waiting on the gravel road

which spreads outside the cottage

The cottage is filled with your scent and the walls are leaning

on your framed pictures

In one of them, you stand with your fluttering hair on a cliff

and your hands are resting in mine

I still feel the warmth of your hands

And again, tears run out from my eyes, that want to extinguish the flames

Flashes of my heart

I need your soft fingers

which wipe these flowing streams

And your warm arms, hiding me in this

frightening world that surrounds me

Where are you? You, who are so near and far.

Another participant described how writing helped him to handle the uncertainty, hopelessness, and powerlessness he felt after having received the second rejection of his asylum application. He wanted to share a poem he wrote after the second rejection. Also this poem has been translated from Swedish to English and we present the following parts of it:

Mother, we have left your arms and we hope for a better tomorrow

We fled from the sound of bullets and bombs

Over there, the Talibans and Daish kill us with weapons and bombs

Here, the politicians extinguished our souls, dreams and hopes with a pen and a signature

We, the Hazaras, are the oppressed people of our nation’s history

If you don’t believe me, read the history of our nation.

Creative activities were also associated with calmness and harmony and became a rest from difficulties and uncertainties. This is illustrated in the following quote:

When I paint scenery and nature pictures, I feel very peaceful and it becomes a little “pause in my mind”. My painting helps me becoming “busy” so that I don’t have to worry about my difficulties in life all the time.

Our participants also described their bonds to Afghan music and films. When they arrived in Sweden, Afghan music and film provided stability and recognizability and gave a sense of “solid ground”. However, after living in Sweden for a while, the bonds to Afghan music and film partly changed, and other music genres became more interesting, as expressed in the following quote:

I don’t often watch Afghan movies but I sometimes listen to Afghan music. I notice that I’ve become more attached to Swedish and English music. However, some evenings I listen to Ahmad Zahir ¹and I really enjoy it. Some Afghan things have their own place in my heart and it’s not possible to replace them.

Afghan music and movies became a link to their past cultural heritage. One participant said that “parts of my old culture come to life when I listen to Afghan music or watch Afghan film”. Simultaneously, creative activities were a way to approach Swedish heritage and culture, including knowing popular Swedish songs, or making the Swedish language one’s own. Afghan music and film were also associated with contradictory feelings such as joy and recognition but also sadness and loss for everything they had left behind. Simultaneously, Afghan music, film, and traditional clothing had become important for preserving parts of their Afghan cultural heritage. One participant explains this with the following words:

Mostly, I preserve parts of my Afghan culture by hanging out with my friends from Afghanistan. When we see each other, we listen to Afghan music and we put on traditional Afghan clothes and dance and have fun together.

Some participants found partaking in a dance group or a painting class accessible, since one does not need to know the language. Such non-verbal activities meant a “break” from difficulties since they created a sense of belonging, playfulness, and joy. The following quote illustrates this

At the accommodation we had “Friday dance” once a month. We put music on, then we got dressed in sunglasses and wigs and we danced / … /. It was so much fun to be there and have fun together with friends and staff members. And it was fun to see the others doing this, it was great because you didn’t need to know the language/ … /. It was just great to be there and dance together.

A sense of recognition

Our participants further described how creative writing provided a sense of recognition since other people could read their texts. One participant described how he, when his asylum application was rejected, wrote a poem about his life situation, which he read at a manifestation for human rights. This specific poem, which other people listened to, gave him a sense of recognition and control over his life situation. Our participants found it important that other people understood the loss and grief they felt. One participant used the following words to describe the meaning of reaching out to others;

By writing poems and short stories, I somehow wanted to express all different feelings I had within me. I wanted the people in Sweden to really understand and see what I went through.

Another participant described how happy she felt when one of her poems was published in a book and another poem won a prize in a poetry competition. The publications gave her a “sense of recognition”. The participants wrote in Swedish despite having some difficulties with their new language. They wanted to write in Swedish since they thereby made the new language their own and since writing in Swedish increased the chance that people could read their texts and understand what they were going through. One participant said, I didn’t want to write my poems in Dari but in Swedish. This is because people will understand me and what I felt inside of me.

Another participant described her poems as a “testimony” from the period when she just arrived in Sweden. She did no longer write poetry but said “I have all my poems left from the period when I was new in Sweden, because I dońt want to forget that time”. It was important for her to remind herself of the journey she has made. Like many of the other participants, she saw her early experiences in Sweden as a source of strength and as a reminder that she can handle difficulties in the future.

Discussion

The analysis showed that creative activities provided a “safe place” and a sense of recognition. The activities were connected to joy and belonging and could be used to handle uncertainty and emotional suffering. Moreover, our participants preserved their Afghan heritage through music and dance and simultaneously approached the Swedish heritage and the Swedish language through poetry and music, and through engaging with others. We will now discuss the expressive, receptive, and symbolic aspects of the creative activities our participants engaged in. Thereafter we will discuss practical implications and how creative activities, not least poetry writing, can be acknowledged in interventions and care provided to UMs.

Receptive, expressive, and symbolic components

Our participants described their first time in Sweden as marked by insecurity, loss, ambivalence, and a sense of being stuck between the past and the future, and between cultures and traditions. This is in line with previous research (Herz & Lalander, 2017; Varvin, 2017; Wernesjö, 2015) which emphasized the complex emotions that are connected to migration and resettlement.

Involvement in creative activities supported our participants to handle these complexities. According to Mazza and Hayton (2013), the receptive component concerns how creative expressions can validate emotions and help a person share experiences with others. The use of Afghan music and films can be understood as a receptive component in poetry therapy (Mazza & Hayton, 2013). Both Afghan music and film could validate emotions and thoughts about identity and recognizability, during a period characterized by loneliness, loss, insecurity, and being “in between”. Music and film were also connected to joy and belonging. Thereby, Afghan music and film could validate positive as well as difficult emotions associated with migration and resettlement. For many UMs, resettlement involves a process of being and becoming. In this process, they need to preserve parts of the “old” traditions and cultural heritage, and abandon other parts, and simultaneously they integrate the traditions and cultural heritage of their new country (Hosseini & Punzi, 2021a; 2021b). In this process, receptive as well as receptive components seem important.

The expressive component (Mazza & Hayton, 2013) was central for those who wrote poetry and short stories and thereby expressed and understood complex emotions. This goes in line with Pennebaker’s (1993) findings that writing about emotional distress is helpful, because it permits emotional expression and builds a narrative that supports understanding. The idea that creative arts improve mental health, recovery, and well-being is supported by other scholars (Baker et al., 2018; Glavin & Montgomery, 2017). For our participanats, receptive as well as expressive components also supported them to make the new language their own.

Even though our participants did not use the word “therapy”, it came forth that the writing process, and the sense of recognition, had therapeutic benefits. When texts became public, the participants sensed that their suffering was acknowledged. Furthermore, through writing, they established themselves as subjects in the asylum process, in which they otherwise often were approached as an object, controlled by laws and paragraphs. Through expressive components, they handled migration, the asylum process, and resettlement, and their needs for social connectedness and belonging were met.

There were also examples of creative activities with a symbolic value (Mazza & Hayton, 2013). The participants, for example, gathered for Afghan New Year’s Eve, and sometimes during weekends got together with friends, dressed in traditional Afghan clothes and dancing together. Such events preserved parts of their Afghan cultural heritage and were also important sources to maintain a symbolic connection to their Afghan roots and an opportunity to share experiences and tradition. The concrete action (gathering together) and the symbolic component (listening to traditional Afghan music, wearing traditional Afghan clothes) can be seen as a way to maintain contact with their cultural heritage and partly as a way to handle loneliness. This goes in line with Mazza and Hayton’s (2013) descriptions of the symbolic component, which includes symbols, metaphors, rituals, and performance that support the persons to handle difficulties and life-changing adversity.

Practical implications

Based on our results, we suggest that interventions aimed at UMs should include creative approaches and activities that support meaning-making, relationships, and belonging. Some of our participants came into contact with creative activities thanks to the encouragement of teachers, legal guardian, and housing staff. It should be noted that not all UMs who participated in our research project had engaged in creative activities. Accordingly, we do not argue that UMs should be persuaded to engage in creative activities. We, however, propose that since creative activities may be important for UMs, UMs should be encouraged to engage in creative activities that are meaningful for them, and interventions aimed at UMs should include creative activities. Through approaching our participants’ experiences from the perspective of Mazza's (2003) model for poetry therapy, it came forth how they engaged in receptive, expressive, as well as symbolic activities. This indicates that activities need to be varied and flexible enough to include all three components. We also propose that flexible activities should acknowledge that varying components may be more or less important during different phases of the resettlement process.

Sweden has a strong civil society and association life that is meaningful to many UMs (Hosseini & Punzi, 2021a, 2021b). Creative activities arranged by those association are important for UMs. We suggest that also the school system and interventions within social services should encourage UMs to engage in creative explorations. Through such activities, they may also expand their social networks and develop new friendships. This is important since many UMs strive to establish new friendships (Herz & Lalander, 2017; Korjonen-Kuusipuro et al., 2019). UMs’ social networks are often limited to the institutions where they live, which can contribute to feelings of disconnection and existential loneliness (Herz & Lalander, 2017). Supporting UMs to engage in creative contexts together with peers could be a way to reduce this existential loneliness and disconnection. This was exemplified by our particiants who described that “Friday dance” provided a “pause in my mind”.

Our results indicate that creative activities can strengthen networks and foster friendships. They can also be a deeply personal way to express and handle loneliness, difficult emotions, and loss. Moreover, writing could be a way to publicly express oneself, describe injustices, and gain recognition. Taken together, poetry fulfilled different purposes for our participants during different periods of the resettlement process. This goes in line with Collins (2016) and Olszewska’s (2015) description of how creativity and poetry can fulfill varying purposes. It can be therapeutic, but it can also be a testimony, a resource, or an expression to amend injustice. Taken together, interventions aimed at UMs should support relationships, connectedness, and meaningful activities, not least creative activities. Such interventions not only support healing and increase the possibilities for UMs to achieve satisfying lives, they are also cost effective. To express one’s thoughts through poetry and stories only takes a pen and a piece of paper. But it can mean everything. Through writing poetry and stories that was rooted in their own life situations and the struggles they faced, our participants got a sense of recognition from others. Importantly, they also became recognized by themselves.

Limitations and future studies

This study has its limitations. A small number of persons participated and they came from the same country of origin. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized to the entire group of UMs from either Afghanistan or other countries. We nevertheless hope that our study contributes to understanding the importance of creativity for UMs and we hope that future studies can explore this in more systematic ways, perhaps using the poetry therapy model.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the foundation Allmänna Barnhuset [2018-245]. We wish to thank them for their generous support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Stiftelsen Allmänna Barnhuset: [Grant Number 2018-245].

Notes

1 Ahmad Zahir was an Afghan pop singer and songwriter during the 70s. He is considered an icon of Afghan culture and seen by many as one of the greatest musicians of all time.