Urgent relief for my family (Recent Refugees)
My name is Batol. I am raising funds for my mother and sister who were recently evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan. (Samea Shanori is my other sister who is also helping with this fundraiser.)
My mother and sister rushed to the Kabul airport on August 18th, three days after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. There were thousands of Afghans waiting inside the airport to be evacuated, including my mother and sister. My mother and sister had to wait inside the crowded airport for five days to be processed. Finally, they boarded a plane towards Doha, Qatar; waited for additional two days and reached the United States on August 27th. They are now in an immigration processing center in Texas.
My mother and sister left the house in a hurry with just their passports, airport security passes, small backpacks and clothes they were wearing. Evacuees were not allowed to bring luggage that needed to be stowed under the plane. Unfortunately, for my mother like many Afghans, this is the second time that she has lost everything she had worked hard to build. The first time was in the early 1990s when the Taliban first took over Afghanistan, and she had to flee to Pakistan. Now she’s lost everything again. My sister had just one more month to graduate from university with a degree in international relations. Now, she has to start all over again.
As Hazara women with no male family members with ties to the US through my other sister and I, the lives of my mom and sister were in immediate danger. I lost my father in 1997 when we were refugees in Pakistan. Hence, in a few seconds the night before August 18th, we decided it was time for my mom and sister to leave for their safety. They are in shock from the Taliban takeover, losing what they had, losing their home, and arriving in a new country to begin again. They both need time to heal. I am trying to provide them what they need to start a new life -- a life they always dreamed of.
Once they have completed the immigration procedures, we hope to be reunited. They will be staying with my other sister and I in our two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn.
We are launching this fundraiser to help with the costs of resettling them here in their new home. A few items that we need and appreciate your help with right away are below:
Flights:
Evacuation cost x 2 = $4,000 (hopefully, we will not be asked to pay for evacuation costs but you never know)
Visa processing fees:
USCIS's I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) forms x 2 ($535 per person) = $1,070
IV Visa case application processing and affidavit of support fees x 2 ($500 per person) = $1,000
Other costs:
Transportation from TX to NY x 2 = $800
Clothing x 2 = $2,000
Bedding (beds, sheets, pillows, mattresses) x 2 = $1,500
Food = $2,000
Misc = $2,000
We would appreciate it if you can donate more than just for these items. As they will be arriving through sponsorship cases, they will not qualify for public benefits like other refugees. In addition, we will need funds for my sister's education who has to start from scratch.
* For security reasons I am not disclosing my mom and my sister's personal information (names and picture). If you need more information - we can connect directly.
