<div>After nearly five difficult years as refugees in Tajikistan, all but four of Saba's family are now safely in Canada.  But the fate of the remaining four is very uncertain. <strong> Please join us in this final step to reunite the Zaki family.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As you know, the story began in August 2020 when Saba survived an assassination attempt outside their home in Kabul.   Shortly thereafter, Saba and her family made the desperate attempt to save their lives by escaping Afghanistan. They had little money and faced great uncertainty.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Read Saba’s story here: </strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Assassination Attempt
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Colonel Saba Sahar Zaki was the highest-ranking female officer in the Special Forces of Afghan’s Ministry of Interior when, one morning in August 2020, with her 4-year-old daughter, driver, and bodyguard, she was brutally attacked by 3 gunmen. [ <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/24/i-am-not-afraid-to-fight-the-female-afghan-colonel-who-survived-the-talibans-assassins" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/24/i-am-not-afraid-to-fight-the-female-afghan-colonel-who-survived-the-talibans-assassins" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/24/i-am-not-afraid-to-fight-the-female-afghan-colonel-who-survived-the-talibans-assassins</a></a> ] Due to concerns for her security, she was taken to the hospital at Bagram Joint Airbase (controlled by the U.S.) where she was treated for 4 gunshots to her stomach. My nephew, a U.S. Air Force trauma nurse, was part of the team of medical specialists who treated Saba. This is how I came to know Saba, her husband, Emal, and their warm, gracious family. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Saba in hospital with her children after attack:
</div><img alt="54561440_161723152818294_r.jpeg" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/54561440_161723152818294_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> Trailblazer as a Taliban Target
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Saba has always been a powerful voice and force for women’s rights. In the Special Forces, Saba recruited and trained other Afghan women for military service, becoming their role model and mentor. Saba has never been bashful. Her career began an actress after which she became Afghan’s first female film director. In an interview by the Guardian in 2012, Saba said passionately, “I want to show that Afghan women are capable of doing anything men can do”. <strong>Impressive, yes, but to the Taliban, it meant a death sentence. Saba has been a target for assassination ever since.</strong> A few weeks before the family escaped Afghanistan, Saba was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, a long-time dream, which only increased the threats.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Saba recovering at their home in Kabul after attack:
</div><img alt="54561440_161723162285894_r.jpeg" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/54561440_161723162285894_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> Move Toward an Uncertain Future as Refugees
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Threats against Saba and her family did not fade after her attack. In fact, after a BBC interview with her was aired in January [<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-55850238" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-55850238" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-55850238</a></a> ], the threat level increased. Having resisted the idea of leaving the country she loves, she and her family, including their 5 children, made the difficult decision to flee Afghanistan for a safer country in March to seek asylum. Saba asked that I not mention the asylum country as even their safety there is not assured. They told me as they finalized their plans, <strong>“We are making the biggest decision of our lives when we leave our homeland and become refugees and move towards an uncertain future.”</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Emal, Saba, and their 5 children:
</div><img alt="54561440_1617231417710345_r.jpeg" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/54561440_1617231417710345_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> They are not a wealthy family. I helped them purchase tickets for the flight from Kabul. They are starting their lives with whatever they could carry. They have applied for asylum and temporary refugee status.  Life for refugees is quite difficult. Jobs are exceedingly difficult to find, housing is limited, and poverty is a mainstay. Together with a small group of friends and family, I have committed to provide them with a very modest monthly stipend for one year. But that will not be enough.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> Their Goal is to Resettle in Canada
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Now Saba needs our help</strong>. Their goal is to resettle in either Canada or the U.S. Although the U.S. may change its stance on refugees, the backlog of deserving refugees is daunting. Therefore, Saba and Emal are pinning their hopes on resettlement in Canada under its private sponsorship program. As welcoming as Canada is for refugees, the best estimate from experts to whom I have spoken is that it will take at least 2 years to apply for the program, find sponsors, and wade through the process with many other applicants. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> Purpose of Fundraising for Saba and her Family
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If we raise $57,000 in donations, we will be able to fund the required deposit of $31,000 for Saba, Emal and 5 children (computed by formula for a family of 7) which is intended by the Canadian government to cover the cost of the refugee’s first year. Another $26,000 will be needed to supplement the $10,000 I have ready raised through family &amp; friends to provide for the family’s basic living expenses for up to 2.5 years ($1,200/month) while they wait in the host/asylum country for their eventual resettlement to Canada.  
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Fundraising summary:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Canadian private sponsorship fees:         $ 31,000     (within 12 months)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Living Expenses in Asylum:               $ 26,000     (within 10 months)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Total:                                      $ 57,000
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When I first met Saba through my nephew, I promised I would assist in any way I could. We need courageous women like Saba who hopes to one day continue her work for the rights of women in Afghanistan. <strong>We cannot do the things that Saba has done, but we can help her and her family when she needs us. And she needs us now.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Neither Saba nor Emal can believe that strangers would even consider helping them. I have told them donors like you will not be strangers when they hear their story.
</div>

Anonymous

Lucy OConnor

Bill & Chris H.

Stephen Fogg

Lauren Chaitkin

Debra O'Reilly

Linda Carson

Laurel Kracen

Chris O'Reilly

Susan DeWittBurns

Eleanor Cannan

Jacob Tschirhart

Deborah Baratta

Reunite Saba Sahar's Family: From Kabul to Canada

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

be_supporter_comments_enabled_supported_funds

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Reunite Saba Sahar's Family: From Kabul to Canada

Still $9,000 to go. Help us build momentum.