BRATTLEBORO — On June 20, we Afghans celebrated World Refugee Day under incredible circumstances.
I never thought I would know what it would feel like to spend my life in a land of exile.
It hasn't even been a full year since the Taliban took over Afghanistan and made trouble for thousands of people. Since I immigrated, I have started to feel the nostalgia in my heart and body that immigrants and refugees must have experienced throughout history, whether they wanted to or not.
This experience has taught me and others in the Afghan community about how to deal with problems that we could never have imagined.
Over 100 Afghan people were evacuated from Afghanistan and resettled in Vermont to make their lives safer. I have spoken with several of them.
We have wished to have a secure and calm life in this new place, but we all continue to struggle with the biggest obstacles of our lives.
We have our physical strength and our bodies are calm, but peace of mind is out of our control. We didn't just leave our country - we all left pieces of our hearts behind, and we left people living in impossible economic and security conditions.
I sat for an hour with some Afghan refugees to ask how they feel their lives are going. They had similar experiences not only of being an immigrant, but also being the person in charge of their family far away in Afghanistan.
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Abdul is one of the refugees, working seven days per week. He works most of the week as a carpenter. He spoke while he was cleaning the empty apartments of people who recently moved into a new home. He works on the weekends in people's gardens.
“I have to support my nine children and my eight brothers, all living in Afghanistan,” Abdul says. “I have to do all this. Sometimes, I forget who I am.”
“Ever since I left Afghanistan, I cannot enjoy myself because my nine children are scrounging to survive, under difficult emotional and economic conditions,” he says.
Abdul feels good at work because he was able to find a job similar to the one he had in Afghanistan. He says that his boss is really appreciative of his approach and always willing to find him more work and greater responsibilities.
“All the people around us are willing to help us, encourage us, and share lots of love with us,” he says. “I really understood this when my wife and I decided to move from Bellows Falls to Brattleboro due to my job.”
“That day, my neighbors were crying because we [wouldn't be able to] see each other each day,” Abdul says. “This was a special feeling.”
In moving from Bellows Falls, “I felt like I was becoming an immigrant for the second time,” he says. “But my happiest day will be the day when my children can finally come here to America.”
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Sohaila, a highly motivated young woman, works part time as an administrative assistant for a property management company. She works hard and tries to help other women to solve their problems.
She also works part-time for ECDC, our refugee resettlement agency in southern Vermont. She works as the refugee leadership coordinator to connect refugees, especially women learning English, with other American people.
“I'm glad to work in this position because I have more opportunity to be in contact with different people,” she says. “At this point, I can see myself feeling more courageous to make my dreams come true.”
“I'm in touch with so many different people that have helped me to secure the opportunity for a scholarship from Brattleboro's School for International Training, which makes my future bright,” she continues.
Sohaila doesn't need to spend everything that she earns as a livelihood, because the Vermont government helps to support her rent and food. She sends what she can back home to her large family in Afghanistan.
“I'm trying to support my family economically. At this point, all Afghans must have someone abroad to support them. The money I send every month helps to some extent. My brother is working, but if I don't also support my family, they will face poverty,” Sohaila says.
Abdul and Sohaila are not the only ones who are struggling, as most Afghan refugees are in the same situation.
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Lutfullah lives on his own, but he is responsible for financially supporting three families in Afghanistan: his father and the families of his two married brothers. They had worked with the Afghan government before the Taliban took over. Now that the Taliban has taken away all support, his family is completely dependent on him.
He was working for 16 years as a baker in Afghanistan and hoped that he would find a job quickly in the U.S. But for five months, he was forced to live on a U.S. military base in New Jersey, unable to work. Then he moved to Vermont and lived for two months at SIT's campus.
Lutfullah complains about transportation, which is one of the main problems for refugees in getting a job.
Now, he works in Brattleboro at a food processing facility. On the side, he also works at a restaurant.
How does he combines his two jobs?
“I really don't want to waste a single hour,” Lutfullah says. “I need to work hard day and night because, back home, three families are expecting me whenever I call and waiting on me with their eyes.” He doesn't even have time to slow down to enjoy his meal. He is always in a hurry.
One day, Lutfullah called me to translate for him because he wanted to ask his manager if the restaurant would like him to bake Afghan pastries. She loved the idea and was happy to help him with the necessary paperwork and exam.
We all believed he could succeed, and one day he did! When I last spoke to him, he was very happy because his boss and all his colleagues liked his pastry. He baked them special Afghan cookies that smelled great.
“After tasting my pastry, my boss asked me to bake more and gave me more hours (30 hours) per week in the restaurant,” Lutfullah says. “I'm working two different, difficult jobs, both because I am interested, but also because I am compelled. Beside my family, I also need to support myself and save up for the time when Vermont's financial support will end.”
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These three people represent just a sample of all the refugees from different countries around the world.
As an immigrant, I wish for all the world's refugees to be safe and reunited with their families, which could bring back happiness to their faces and a smile to their lips.