Reunite Afghan Mama & Daughter w Their Fam in LA

This is a fundraiser to reunite my friend and colleague, Ahmad Roman, with his wife and daughter. Ahmad works with me at Miry’s List, a nonprofit organization support resettling refugee families in the US. FAMILIES BELONG TOGETHER.

Ahmad was separated from his wife and daughter (who was 6 at the time and is now 8) at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan in August 2021. You can learn more about their family's experience by reading here and watching this video about them on CNN.

He arrived at Los Angeles through Operation Allies Welcome with their two sons (aged 16 months and 8 years old, now they are 3 and 10).

It was fear of the Taliban that drove Ahmad, who had worked for the Afghan government, and 11 relatives – some who’d worked for the US Embassy – to head for the Kabul airport on August 16, 2021.

But when they managed to get past chaotic crowds onto large cargo planes, Ahmad and his wife couldn’t find their older son, so they got off, their daughter holding hands with her mother.

At least a thousand people crowded onto the airport grounds, some even stepping over the young and the elderly, Ahmad recalls

After a long struggle, they realized their son already had boarded a cargo plane – with Ahmad's brother-in-law, who had their son in tow. But by then, Ahmad's wife and daughter had been pushed past the gates – and no one would let them through.

When Ahmad finally got his wife on the phone, he told her, ‘Because of the kids, I need to take the plane.’

“‘Yes, you have to take the plane,’” she replied.

Ahmad hoped his wife and daughter would be on the next plane out, he said. Then, he saw headlines announcing that the last US troops had left Afghanistan.

The path ahead, he knew then, would be far more challenging.

They expected their family's reunification to happen quickly, but already two painful years have passed. They have been constantly working through a very difficult and changing system to bring their family back together.

Ahmad has since had his asylum case approved, got his and his sons' social security numbers, his work permit, and applied for their green cards.

His sons are thriving in Los Angeles, however, they miss their mom and sister every day. 

The boys were 16 months and 8 years old when separated from mom, now they are 3 and 10 and thriving in Los Angeles, but they miss mom every single day.

Ahmad cannot describe how painful this separation has been and the toll its taken to be away from his wife and daughter during the turmoil in Afghanistan, which is especially horrific for women and girls.

Finally, his wife and daughter have had their immigration case approved and visa processing is underway with National Visa Center. The next step is they have to go to Qatar from Afghanistan for their interview and visa processing. This is where they urgently need our help. The costs of the visa and airfare to Qatar are on the family. The total cost is $17,000.

To make things even more difficult, the Taliban does not allow women to travel without a male escort, so Ahmad's wife has to travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan and then Pakistan to Qatar with her brother for the trip.

This new Angeleno, Ahmad's youngest, is the boss of his Los Angeles pre-school. He was 16 months and still nursing when separated from his mom at the Kabul airport.

So we need to cover the cost for his wife, her brother and their daughter to pay for Visas, airfare, and accommodations in Qatar. Ahmad can’t afford the full cost upfront.

As Ahmad waits for the US immigration papers to process, he doesn’t know if his daughter in Kabul can continue her schooling, he said, since the Taliban changes the rules frequently, sometimes between morning and night.

Mom knows her two sons have a much better life in the United States. But the reality isn’t always easy to embrace from her side of the video chat.

“From one side, I’m happy. But from other side, I cannot touch them,” she says of her boys. “I cannot give them a hug.”

Join us in showing up for the Roman family, for bringing this sweet family back together. Because families belong together.

Thank you so much for helping.

Chip in and help bring them back together with their mom and sister