Urgent: Refugee Afghan Family in Need of Support

Matthew Powers is organizing this fundraiser.

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Dear friends,

As tragedy unfolds in Afghanistan I have a small piece of good news. My dear friend and former colleague Zabi Kunduzi* and his extended family of 9 – which includes multiple young children - escaped Kabul on a US Air Force Evacuation flight on Tuesday morning (8.24.21) . As I write they are currently in Germany waiting to be processed for immigration to the US.

For the past 20 years the family helped support the US mission in Afghanistan. His parents worked for USAID and after graduating college Zabi became my engineer, project advisor and translator for dozens of projects we did through our shared employeer**. On trips out into the Districts of Kunduz, Zabi helped guarantee my safety and a number of times he helped calm extremely volatile situations. He was my partner and brother and I owe my life to him. It's a debt that I will never be able to repay.

Since Kabul fell I have been in daily contact with Zabi's sister who lives in the Bay Area. She has worked tirelessly to push Congress, the State Department, the Department of Defense and the Marines on the ground in Kabul to get the family to safety. I don't think she has slept in the past 10 days and her work has been an inspiration. I'm proud to call her my new close friend...but really she's like a sister to me too. So many of you have also helped play a role in elevating the family's case, pushing for them to receive their SIV documents and helping them past the Marine checkpoints. A couple people in particular shared critical information about what Airport gates would open and what documents to show to get past Taliban checkpoints. One person in particular talked to a US Marine at Abbey gate and without their help, I'm sure some members of the family would have been left in Kabul. After the attack on Abbey we are heartsick not knowing the fate of the Marine who showed such bravery, compassion and humanity in the face of a terrible situation.

While I recognize this family is one of the fortunate few, and the situation continues to be heartbreaking with many more Afghanis fighting to get out, I think my debt, and our debt as a nation is still not paid. For this reason I'm starting this GoFundMe and appealing for your help to get the family settled in California once they arrive.

The family will be starting new lives with just a few hundred dollars to their name. Yet their needs will be staggering: housing, food, transportation, clothing, education supplies for the kids and possibly legal counsel for their immigration cases. This need will far exceed what the sister here in California can provide. However if we, as a community, can help set this family up for success I know they will thrive. The parents are in need of medical care and Zabi and his siblings will likely need time to transfer their degrees and find work. Among the 4 siblings there are engineers, accountants and a Fullbright scholar.

I've set an aggressive fundraising target with the goal of helping them pay for housing for a year and provide for some of their basics needs. Once the family is in a position to help others, they hope to regift whatever amount was raised to refugee organizations or other refugee families. In this way we hope your gifts and donations will be magnified over the long term. I hope you are able to contribute.

Thank you,

Matt

*To protect against reprisals for the family I have been advised to protect my friend's true last name and obscure their identities.

**I am also not naming the organization to limit the security risk.

This is all 10 members of the family getting ready to board a C-17 to Doha: