Former Interpreter and family arriving in the US

Kiyoshi Mino is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello, my name is Kiyoshi Mino. I am a veteran of the US Army and I served 3 tours with Operation Enduring Freedom from 2004 to 2005. Immediately after fulfilling my initial contract with the Army I returned to the country I had been deployed to in order to work for 1 year managing a USAID project in Uruzgan province. Wahidullah was my interpreter and assistant project manager at this time. Over the course of that year he helped me organize projects throughout the province that protected villages from flooding, restored ancient irrigation systems and improved roads, at the same time creating temporary employment for thousands of local residents.

Since that time Wahid has worked as a journalist and until the recent change of government served as assistant to a member of parliament in the national government. Once the new government came to power in the summer of 2021 Wahid became a wanted man, thanks to his past work for the US government. While he and his wife and 6 children went into hiding at a relatives house, soldiers ransacked his home, and interrogated his daughter's school teachers in an effort to find and arrest him. With the aid of a network of smugglers Wahid was eventually able to get himself and his family across the border into Pakistan where they have been living as refugees ever since. The past 2 years have been extremely hard for Wahid and his family. Because he did not have any official immigration status in Pakistan, Wahid could not find work. As a result, they have been living on whatever money I could afford to send them. Wahid's wife, Shabana was pregnant when they made their escape into Pakistan and had another child in the fall of 2022. Last year they lost their 6 year old son to a sudden brain infection. I applied for humanitarian parole (an emergency temporary US visa) for the whole family in September of 2021 and finally after two and a half years of waiting, earlier this month they were approved for the visa. Now they are scheduled to fly into Chicago on Saturday March 30th. This in and of itself is like a miracle that we never thought would happen. It is a huge relief to know that they are finally safe from the Taliban. However things are going to be extremely hard for them in the US as well. Up until recently humanitarian parolees received significant financial assistance from the US government including free rent for the first 3 months in country. As of September of last year that assistance program has been terminated.

Wahid and his family are going to need a lot of help this year getting resettled. World Relief, a resettlement not for profit group in Chicago will provide them with up to 1 month's worth of rent assistance. But other than that, their only source of funds for rent, food and any other expenses until Wahid can find a job will be myself and any donations I can collect for them. Please consider donating whatever you are able to to help Wahid, his wife and six young children have a successful start to a new life in the US.