A group of Connecticut residents has mounted a grassroots effort to aid a sweet, loving, and intelligent young woman who fled her native Afghanistan last summer and arrived in the U.S. without her family – they need donations to help her and her family.

Nilab was only seventeen when U.S. Armed Forces were leaving Afghanistan and the government was falling to the Taliban. Her parents, an electrical engineer and a women’s rights advocate, recognized they were in danger. They gathered their three children and immediately tried to flee the country. (The family’s last name is being omitted for reasons of safety.) Only Nilab escaped.

The family was among thousands who made their way to Kabul Airport, but chaos broke out when the Taliban began shooting into the crowd. When a boy standing next to her was shot, Nilab ran for cover and became separated from her family. With the assistance of an American soldier, Nilab made it onto a plane, but her family members did not. Amidst the confusion, all of Nilab’s belongings, including her identity documents, were left behind with her mother in Afghanistan. Scared and alone, and carrying nothing but her cell phone, Nilab landed briefly in Qatar and Washington, D.C., before arriving on a US Army camp in New Mexico. After two months, Nilab moved from the camp to Connecticut where she now lives with Lina and Mario Rinaldi, immigrants from Italy, who invited Nilab into their home. She will stay with them until she can afford to live on her own.

Woodbury residents Merri Klar and Jeff Berkowitz joined the Rinaldis to provide assistance to Nilab. Seeing how much needed to be done to help, Ms. Klar recently organized a diverse group of caring volunteers to form a support group affectionately called “Team Nilab.” Team Nilab members are working to help Nilab reach her goals of gaining asylum status, attending college, having transportation and helping her family to safely leave Afghanistan.

Nilab is working hard to do what she can to support herself and to create a better life for herself here in Connecticut. She is grateful to be here and accepts the fact that for now, life will not be easy. In the past year, Nilab has been studying diligently with Team Nilab members to improve her English. She learned to drive and is now the proud owner of a Connecticut driver’s license. Team members are teaching her guitar and calligraphy. To increase her chances of success in college and in the job market, Nilab is studying Microsoft Word and Excel on LinkedIn Learning. Nilab has been accepted to Tunxis Community College where she has been accepted into an advanced level ESL program that will prepare her for college-level studies. Nilab needs financial help to cover the cost for college and also to cover the cost of transportation back and forth from school, work and home.

Working part-time at ShopRite in Waterbury, Nilab continues to search for a full-time position, preferably one in a business or professional setting. (While in Afghanistan, she worked as a receptionist in a hospital and also assisted on the ambulances)

Nilab is working with an immigration attorney to apply for asylum and she is constantly searching for a way to help her parents and siblings to escape Afghanistan where they remain in hiding. Nilab’s mother is in ill health and, as a TV reporter, her brother is particularly targeted by the Taliban. To avoid detection, Nilab’s family had to give up their cell phones and as a result, they cannot often communicate with Nilab. She misses them terribly and is worried about their health and safety. Nilab’s number-one priority is getting her family out of Afghanistan and bringing them to the U.S., but it is not easy to find a way to accomplish this dream.

Like any 18-year-old, Nilab is trying her best to figure out her place in what has become a very confusing world.

Inspired by memories of accompanying her mother after work to bring food and aid to ill women in her community, Nilab would like to pursue a career that would empower her to provide assistance to Afghan women and children, perhaps through nursing or a diplomatic career.

Team Nilab is seeking contributions to help pay for a used car, college costs and legal costs associated with reuniting the family.

For more information about Nilab, see the following press coverage about her:

Link to article about Nilab that appeared in The Voices on 08-18-22: https://www.dropbox.com/s/75403fco1e5pkan/The%20Voices%2008-18-22%20Residents%20Create%20Grassroots.pdf?dl=0

Link to piece that aired on CT Public and on NPR’s Here and Now:

Connecticut Public Radio | By Camila Vallejo