Reporters’ pocket book: revisiting Afghan refugees beginning anew within the U.S.

ALEXANDRIA, VA. – Shafi Amani wears a brilliant pink chef’s coat and fingers out a plate of heat hen shawarma by means of the window of his meals truck close to the King Avenue Metro station. The signal on the aspect of the truck says “Seven Guys, Halal food.”

We first met Shafi final summer season, when he instructed us about his harrowing, treacherous journey to america by means of Afghanistan, Pakistan after which Mexico – paying smugglers $200 every to get hoisted over the border wall into america.

Final week, we returned to see how his household is doing.

They dwell on the highest ground of a large high-rise constructing overlooking a freeway. Principally immigrants from Afghanistan and Africa dwell right here. Two girls sporting hijabs chat on a sofa within the foyer.

Once we enter his residence, we see one other addition to the household. His identify is Khyber, a brand new born dozing on a bouncy chair. One other woman Iqra, a shy baby with a mass of brown curls, clings to Shafi’s chest. He named her Iqra – which implies ‘learn’ of their native Pashto – a dig on the Taliban and their ban on educating ladies.

And within the nook is Yousra, his 4-year-old daughter, who till two years in the past was a wholesome baby. She now sits in a wheelchair, her tiny ft resting on a toy stuffed frog. Once we first met her, she was limp, like a rag doll, her eyes at instances rolling again into her head.

Now, her eyes are keenly targeted on us. Each on occasion a smile brightens her face. She’s nonetheless unable to maneuver a lot, and he or she’s had latest strokes. Will she have the ability to stroll once more?

“I think that’s uncertain. I think we’ll have to see how she develops and grows,” says Dr. Karen Smith, a one-time Military nurse turned pediatrician at Youngsters’s, who’s helped with Yousra’s care. “But [I am] hopeful with therapies.”

Adapting to a brand new life within the U.S.

Shafi’s spouse is quiet throughout a lot of the dialog. She picks up little Khyber and we ask her about her life. She does not need her identify revealed. She worries about her household again in Afghanistan, particularly her two youthful sisters dwelling beneath a Taliban rule that’s repressive towards girls. When she talks about them, her eyes fill with tears.

“Both of them are at home now,” she says. “And when I speak with them they are crying my sisters what can I do now. I cannot do anything. My little sister says, ‘What is my future?'”

Final yr, she might barely communicate English.

“I have been learning English since two years,” she says, in a mushy lilt. “Now I can speak okay but not perfect.”

However she is aware of sufficient English to assist Shafi, when he is speaking at size with us and at one level struggles to recall the fitting phrase. “Translator,” she tells him.

“Now she’s better than me,” Shafi says. “All the time she’s asking me something. ‘You know this?’ and telling her ‘I will learn from you.'”

Shafi labored as a contractor, constructing bases for the Afghan navy. He fled when the Taliban began looking authorities data, fearing he could be focused.

He is nonetheless ready for his asylum declare to be accepted. However at the very least he now has work papers. Early every morning, seven days per week, he goes to the meals truck the place he meets up along with his companion Noor Agha, one other Afghan refugee who arrived eight years in the past. Noor has a brother who labored for the American navy in Afghanistan however continues to be caught in a refugee camp in Abu Dhabi, capital metropolis of the Emirates, hoping to at some point attain the US.

Collectively Shafi and Noor plan to broaden the enterprise, decide up extra meals vehicles.

“In my life, I’m in the first step,” says Shafi.

“I have everything I need and I don’t just dream about stuff”

Not distant at Goodwin Home, a retirement group, twenty-one-year previous BH works the entrance desk. He too has a narrative of danger in addition to disappointment. And like different Afghans, he has household again within the nation and fears utilizing his identify.

When Kabul fell in August, 2021, he was along with his household outdoors the airport, caught in a determined crowd of hundreds as they surged towards the gates. Someway he obtained separated from his household, and located himself contained in the airport alone. He was 17.

“I called them several times, but no one was answering because of the crowd, and no one heard the phone ring,” he remembered. “It was a dark day for me because I lost my family you know.” Earlier than lengthy he was crammed inside a US navy C-130, on his method to Doha, Qatar, the place he was lastly capable of attain his mom.

“She was crying,” he mentioned. “That’s the only thing she did.”

Since he was a part of the American airlift, he obtained some help from the State Division, an residence in Alexandria, Virginia. He ended up graduating from Alexandria Metropolis Excessive College. And he was additionally helped by Christ Church in Previous City, Alexandria, which additionally assisted Shafi and his household.

Once we caught up with him final week, he lastly had some excellent news. His mom, father and three brothers had been capable of attain Pakistan, after paying a thousand {dollars} every to get smuggled out. He is working with a non-profit group that helps Afghans attain the U.S.. However there are millions of Afghans both in Pakistan or in refugee camps in different international locations, all hoping for a similar vacation spot. It might take many months, possibly years.

He has plans on attending Northern Virginia Neighborhood School to give attention to computer systems and cyber safety. The residents at Goodwin Home now think about him part of their household. And he is been working at Christ Church ministry, aiding dozens of Afghan households within the space.

BH says they want furnishings, meals and at instances hire help.

“But at this moment we don’t have enough budget to sponsor a new family in the ministry,” he says. “If I can’t help with the monthly rent I will try to find an alternative for it. I will offer something else instead. I will never say no because it will disappoint them, upset them.”

Throughout our first go to with BH, he instructed us about dwelling in a bustling home along with his prolonged household again in Afghanistan. He appeared so lonely. Now he is used to dwelling by himself, sort of likes it. He appears extra assured, works out at a gymnasium and goes to eating places along with his Afghan associates.

Once we noticed his small residence it was sparse, barely furnished, actually sort of heartbreaking. He confirmed us photos of the residence now. There is a mattress, some furnishings, a bouquet of roses is organized on a nightstand. He shares these photos along with his household on the opposite aspect of the world.

“I have everything I need,” he says, “and I don’t just dream about stuff.”