He helped us in Afghanistan, now let's help him.
Walid Fazly and his family lost EVERYTHING when they fled Afghanistan. They left when 3 Taliban showed up to his house looking for him in mid-August, shortly after Kabul fell. Walid is a veteran fixer/translator for places like Stars and Stripes, the Los Angeles Times (where I first met him), Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ABC News and many more news outlets. This work, and his years long commitment to it, made him a target. He and his family had been threatened before but with the Taliban taking over the country he knew he had to get out.
“I told my family to start packing and get me the passports, and we just got out,” Walid told me from the military base where he and his family are still in quarantine. “Don’t worry about the apartment, the furniture, about any single thing........ just leave it.”
He escaped Kabul to the airport evacuation area with his mom (Munira) and dad (Abdul Wahid) (who is wheelchair bound), his wife Sohaila, daughters Asya, 10, Isra, 7, and his son Noman, 4. Also able to flee with Walid was his sister Lina, her husband, and their sweet 1 1/2 year old son Ibrahim.
They are in immediate need of EVERYTHING as they embark on an arduous journey to rebuild their lives in America. I can't imagine for a moment how daunting this must be for them, to just walk away from life as they knew it or stay and face possible death. The children left their friends behind and now face the challenge of learning a new language and adapting to a new culture - a very different way of life than they have ever known.
They will be relocating to Texas, where Walid's brother Khalid (a long time fixer/translator for me but more importantly now, a graduate degree holder and a US citizen) now lives. He will obviously offer everything he can but he alone can not sustain them long enough to get them on their feet.
"I am very relieved now. I am safe. I feel safe. I feel happy from my heart," said Walid about his recent arrival in the United States. "But now I have to start from zero."
The ask is simple; let's raise money for clothes, a vehicle, food, rent and whatever else they may need so we can take some of the stress out of their transition and set them on a course for success. Thank you in advance for your kind-hearted donations!