Mark Smith: The story of Sheila, Brad and Sharifa and how we let every one of them down A student cries inside a mosque after a bomb explosion in Kabul I can’t help thinking about them. The people I met. People like Sheila, who ran a secret school for girls. And Brad, who lost his best friend and said he would never be the same again. And Kobra, whose father was forced to flee for his life. And Sharifa of course, the MP who lives with the constant threat of death. “I do not think about such things,” she said. “I want to be the future.”