From Helmand to MD: A New Beginning for Gul Ahmad's Family

My name is Pablo Wolfe from Takoma Park MD and I am raising money for a friend named Gul Ahmad who is a refugee from Afghanistan. All money raised here will go directly to him and his family to enable their transition to life in the United States.

I was introduced to Gul Ahmad by a friend affiliated with Lutheran Support Services, an organization which facilitates the settlement of Afghan refugees.

Gul Ahmad and I sat cross-legged on his living room floor sipping cardamom-infused milk tea as he told me his story. His warm eyes and bright smile belie a man who has known little peace in his 42 years. Afghanistan has been roiled by coups, invasions, insurgencies, civil wars and Gul Ahmad has witnessed them all from his home in Helmand province, the center of U.S. operations to defeat the Taliban. It was also in Helmand where he worked, at great personal risk, with USAID. Now he needs our support in return.

Gul Ahmad, his wife, and four children are in the United States thanks to a Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghans employed by our government. A patchwork of services has helped Gul Ahmad and his family find an apartment in Maryland; unfortunately, those services only last for three months and Gul Ahmad has just been confronted with a rent bill he cannot pay.

Gul Ahmad put down his teacup as he explained, “My greatest hope here is to make a long plan, for myself, for my family. In Afghanistan you cannot make a long plan. You start, you make a life and then the government collapses and you start from “0” again. Here, you can make a long plan.”

Gul Ahmad has initiated his plan by enrolling in a training program to receive his Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification. The program, run by Full Circle Automotive Training Center, requires that he train full time for the next three months.

Our current goal is to raise $15,000. This will cover four months’ rent (at $1,875 a month) while he completes his ASE certification, as well as allow him to purchase a compact used car for his long commute to work.

As his seventeen year old son, Sharif, cleared our plates, Gul Ahmad looked at me and said, “I should try hard. I should make my life myself.”

Gul Ahmad is not looking for endless gifts, only an opportunity to lay a foundation for the long plan that will enrich his life and the lives of his wife and children.