Fund for Afghan Refugee Family of 8 in Durham, NC

The Q’s are a family of 8 living in Durham, NC. Forced to flee their home with an hour’s notice and only the backpacks they could carry, they made their way through a series of camps and hotel rooms before finally being resettled here in Durham. Due to the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the nature of their escape, they have no financial resources from which to draw. Your donation, of any size, will help provide the tools for self-sufficiency: permanent housing, transportation, medical coverage, education, and more.

 

Meet the Q Family

The Q's are a family of eight from Afghanistan. Father A, mother M and their six kids - boy J (2), boy O (6), girl H (8), girl A (10), girl S (12), boy B (16) - escaped Afghanistan in the days following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Unsure whether they would be able to successfully leave the country during the evacuation effort, the family escaped at only an hour's notice. They left with a couple backpacks and the clothes on their back, leaving behind their entire life - their loved ones, their home, their valuables and family heirlooms - unsure of where they would end up and how they would get there.

 

From Afghanistan, the family was transferred to a series of camps in several different countries. In October, they made their way to Durham, North Carolina, the city they would now call home. However, due to a lack of available housing, the family spent two months in a hotel without transportation, schooling, or employment opportunities. In December 2021, the Q family finally found temporary housing in the Lakewood area. Since then, they have begun to work, go to school, learn English, and get acclimated to life in America.

 

Despite the turmoil of the last five months, the Q family maintains an incredible amount of joy and optimism. Their house is brimming with constant activity and excitement. Youngest child J is a huge ham, with an undeniable ability to charm his way out of trouble with a bat of his eyelashes. The three children in elementary school - O, H, and A - love to play games (Jenga is a favorite!), run around outside, and practice translating their favorite words from Dari to English. They love going to school and are always happy to report whether or not the school lunch served that day was delicious. In typical oldest daughter style, S is like a second mother to the youngest kids, helping them get fed, dressed, and to school on time. She enjoys going to her middle school, even if the food is gross, and had made a friend by her second day of class. Finally, oldest child B has been a tremendous help in his family's transition, serving as a translator for his parents and coordinating his family's administrative requirements. He loves soccer and watching movies, and has plans to join the high school soccer team and get his driver's license in the fall.

 

Mom M and dad A are also settling in. A has a job at the local grocery store, and M is an incredible cook, making huge family-style meals and taking frequent trips to the nearby halal market. Both are excited to learn more about their new home, as well as to share their culture with those around them. Drinking tea and exchanging pictures of Afghan and American weddings, birthdays, and picnics has brought hours of joy and entertainment.

 

Nonetheless, the family is in a precarious financial position. Currently, the family relies on aid from the resettlement agency to pay for their housing and utilities, and on donations and the help of volunteers to cover clothing, prescriptions, cell service, furniture, school supplies and other basic necessities. However, support from the resettlement agency only covers the family's housing and utilities during their first months in America, and in a couple months' time, the family will be expected to be financially self-sufficient. But without a vehicle, the father's options for securing a higher-paying job are severely limited. As the Q family's "circle of welcome," we are raising funds for the Qs to help finance the purchase of a car and basic necessities in their transition to long-term self-sufficiency.

 

How You Can Help

Forced to flee with only an hour's notice, the family lost nearly everything in the evacuation. While aid from the resettlement agency covers their most basic needs for food and shelter in the immediate term, the Qs have no financial resources they can draw on for the long-term and incidental expenses involved in establishing and caring for a family of eight.

 

We are requesting donations to help the Qs purchase a car, seek out long-term housing, pay for prescriptions and medical expenses, and cover any unexpected expenses life throws at them. Any donation amount, no matter how modest, is greatly appreciated and will go directly to the family to cover their needs and help them achieve self-sufficiency.

 

Who we are

We are a group graduate students in the Political Science Department at Duke University who have volunteered to serve as the Q Family's "Circle of Welcome" in Durham, helping them get settled into their new life. The Circle of Welcome is a program of Lutheran Services.