Support Evacuation Efforts for At-Risk Afghans

Many of our Afghan friends and families are still in Afghanistan. We are supporting them through direct transfers to obtain food and clothing for the harsh winter

 

The cover photo for this fundraiser is a drawing by one of the Hazara policewomen I'm working with. We talk often, and I am always impressed by her leadership in her community, her artistic talents, and her kindness and strength. Sometimes, she sends me terrible news with graphic images that I would never want anyone to see, and I feel hopeless. And then sometimes she send me these lovely drawings, and I remember that hope must always live to bear witness to and support the resistance and resilience all around us.

 

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A number of dear Afghan friends, including people that I have met in the course of my evacuation efforts since mid-August, are classed as high-risk families. Due to the chaos of evacuations, the lack of international government for passport-less folks, and the inability to monitor people under Taliban reign, many of these high-risk people have been desperate for safety.

 

What Is This Money For?

 

These costs will  be issued as personal remittances to families in Afghanistan who are trying to evacuate and are out of work after the change of the government. They need the money for food, warm clothing, heaters, and gas through this cold winter.  As most of the families I'm working with are quite large (four comprising 10+ people), this money needs to last for all of them.

 

Who Are We Supporting?

 

Everyone receiving direct support has been personally vetted by me as well as by volunteer taskforces that I am working with to secure these people spaces on flights. I have all of their ID's as well as verified employment statuses and military records. Importantly, I personally know all of the American citizens/LPR's asking me for help and have spoken to many of them extensively over the weeks trying to keep their spirits up.

 

The folks who need our support include:

 

 

This is not an exhaustive list of people I am assisting with my time and money. These are the highest-risk folks who are not receiving support because they do not have visas from other countries, were not employed by non-profits or foreign government entities that could sponsor them, and because they have additional risk factors (e.g. gender, occupation, ethnic identity).

 

How Will This Money Get Safely To These People?

 

Western Union and Moneygram are still working in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Up to $200 can be sent to an individual weekly on either of these platforms. I have sent over $5000 of my own money to people using these means. $200/week is enough for rent, food, and utilities for a family of 13 people. 

 

This Is A *BIG* Issue - Why Should We Support?

 

Literally every government is turning their back on Afghanistan right now. Often, even when the Taliban is willing to let people leave without passports, countries like Qatar refuse to accept people without passports. Many of these at-risk people fled to border countries, undertaking treacherous paths on foot and car, only to be turned away (Uzbekistan), to starve while waiting for UNHRC or any organizations to process them (Tajikistan), or to enter the country only to now face deportation when Visas expire or are declared invalid (Pakistan and India). The US Government is doing nothing to help with diplomatic options, while the richest of the rich continue to not care. On top of all of this, winter and economic crisis in Afghanistan threatens to leave over 28 million people in food insecurity. 

 

What remains are privately funded options, and despite being staffed with volunteers working around the clock, their wells are drying out. So far, I've given close to $3000 of my own money and hundreds of hours since August to support the Afghan people I'm working with (purely on the evacuation side). I don't make much, so $3000 is about a quarter of all my savings. I'm ready to give more but cannot swing this $10,000 by myself. I'm desperate, angry, and grieving, but cannot break. So I am trying to act.

 

This is a tremendously unfair situation on all levels. And as unfair as it feels to me personally having spent and worked and grieved as much as I have, I cannot pretend that what I am feeling and doing is even a percentage of what is being felt and done by Afghans in Afghanistan and all over the world. After all they invested in the betterment of their communities, the injustice now being done to them is incomprehensible.

 

Even if many of us do not feel this injustice so personally, I am relying on those who know me to bear witness to this work and feel called to support. I am relying on those who know that the worth of even a single human life is not measured in thousands of dollars, but if even one of these people is kept safe, this fundraiser is worth it. As we say in our volunteer groups, even one life saved is an entire world saved. And that keeps us going.

 

In the face of grave institutional failures and international abandonment of the Afghan people, our power is more crucial than ever. Any support and sharing is so appreciated. Thank you so much for your time and help.