Peace and blessings to you and your loved ones,
This photo was captured shortly after our escape to India from Afghanistan in 1987. Our Afghan refugee story began during the Soviet Invasion. My parents left with their five daughters, under the age of five, in the cloak of the night. We never had the chance to say our goodbyes to our loved ones.
Fast forward to 2021 and our Afghans are facing the same predicament. Our lives have been greatly impacted by the generosity of strong advocates who helped our family live up to our full potential. Our parents made the ultimate sacrifice that changed the trajectory of our lives with a priceless opportunity to receive an education and serve others.
The recent crisis in Afghanistan has caused the pain of the past to resurface for not just our family, but many other Afghans across the globe. This time, however, we are not fleeing our homeland, we are now witnessing our brothers and sisters in humanity, desperately trying to escape as we brace ourselves and relive our historical trauma.
This new cascade of events has resulted in an Afghan humanitarian crisis and has created a tornado of events for Afghan refugees seeking safety and security abroad. Many families have been forcefully displaced and scattered across the globe, yet again! Far away from their loved ones and with no hope in seeing them in the near future, they now need our support more than ever. Right now, you have a chance to make a positive contribution and re-establish peace in the lives of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
Our family has decided to be proactive in creating solutions amidst the chaos. We have sponsored an Afghan Refugee family, a family of three with a young baby that is just one and a half years old. They are currently making their way from China to California. We have taken the initiative of sponsorship for this family. The family will need financial support with housing, transportation, food, clothing and household items, basic necessities, as they have left everything behind for their survival.
As you can imagine, the costs are adding up quickly and we are counting on the help of our family, friends and community members to share this meaningful experience with us. Many of you have reached out to us to express your interest in contributing to our cause and we are forever grateful to you. We have decided to use crowd-sourcing as a platform to better manage this challenging effort.
We hope for teamwork and collaboration, in order to unify as a community and to donate to this humanitarian cause. It is our humble honor to be able to support our new community members with love, compassion and generosity. We invite you to be a part of this rewarding journey and witness a young family prosper!