Help a Refugee Family Get to Safety
Beschermde donatie
Zeba needs your help to get her family to safety. Originally from Afghanistan, now a United Nations refugee with permanent residency in the U.S., Zeba arrived in Texas with her two spirited daughters, Mahnaz and Samia, in June of 2014. We met Zeba and the girls as our church was partnering with Interfaith Ministries to help Zeba get settled into an apartment, and her daughters into schools. Since then, Zeba and the girls have become like family to us, and us to them.
My wife Erica helped Zeba land her first job, at our favorite Mediterranean restaurant no less! When Zeba had to go away for a few weeks over the holidays to visit an ailing relative, the girls stayed with us, celebrated Christmas, three December birthdays (theirs and mine), and just made our home brighter. When Erica and I want a night to ourselves, our daughter spends the night with Zeba and the girls. Zeba likes to come over and cook for us (because we don’t know what we’re doing), and we talk each other’s ears off about human rights and education and Star Wars. (Yes, of course we took Mahnaz and Samia to see The Force Awakens.)
Zeba always says, “I don’t understand why this violence. We are Jews, Christians, Muslims. We all believe one God, and another world after this one. We are all brothers and sisters. They want to say, ‘You must do this. You must believe that.’ No. One God. Brothers and sisters. This is enough.” In keeping with this philosophy, Zeba calls me “bro,” and tells me, “Your new sister is going to help you stop drinking the Zero Coke.” They make us laugh a lot. The girls know that 99% of what I say is going to be sarcastic, and they can dish it back with equal measure. Zeba just inspires us to work harder, be kinder, and laugh more. We're richer now that they're in our lives.
Zeba tells her mother that she has found a family in Texas that loves her like her parents do. Her mother tells Zeba that it’s an answer to all their prayers for her and the girls. But the absolute truth is, Zeba and the girls are answers to our prayers. For everything they’ve been through, and for all the myriad ways they’ve enriched our lives, we owe them. We owe them.
Zeba’s Story
Zeba is 27 years old. Married at 15, her daughters Mahnaz and Samia just turned 11 and 10, respectively. Zeba’s former husband (we’ll call him Jim Bob, because why not) was violently abusive, and a compulsive gambler. In 2008, Zeba fled Jim Bob's violence, returning to her parents’ home, and filed for divorce. Jim Bob finally granted the divorce in 2009, but in Afghanistan, child custody is almost always granted to the father, as was the case inevitably with Zeba’s daughters. As a compulsive gambler, Jim Bob began extorting money from Zeba; he made her pay to visit her children. Knowing that he would try to make arrangements to marry-off his daughters at a young age, in September of 2009, Zeba took her daughters and fled Afghanistan to India, where she was granted refugee status by the United Nations.
As revenge, Jim Bob threatened to kidnap and kill Zeba’s younger brother, who was 7 at the time, unless Zeba returned her daughters to him. In 2012, Zeba’s mother came to visit her in India, begging her to return, for fear of her son’s life. Terrified and conflicted, Zeba went to the United Nations for advice. The United Nations counseled her absolutely not to return her daughters to Afghanistan, and began proceedings to get Zeba and the girls relocated to the United States. She now resides here in Texas. She is currently studying in college and dreams, after her family is safe, of one day returning to Afghanistan to fight for women's rights.
Her Family’s Plight
Back in Afghanistan, while Jim Bob continued to threaten her family, matters became even worse. Her family relied mostly on Zeba's sister, who was working in a commercial area of Kabul where interaction with different ethnic groups is a necessary part of her job. Within their own ethnic group (which is already a persecuted minority group) there is a band of fundamentalists who oppose women in the workforce. For this violation, her life and livelihood have been personally threatened. As a result, the family have left Afghanistan, fearing persecution from this group. They currently reside in a neighboring country that refuses to grant refugee status to anyone. Facing imminent deportation, and with Zeba’s mother in need of medical care and surgery, they find themselves in a desperate plight, just as Zeba once was. For their safety, they need to travel to Turkey where they can go to the United Nations and obtain their refugee cards. Meanwhile, Zeba works tirelessly with Interfaith Ministries and an immigration lawyer back in Texas, to get her family over here—reunited and safe. We need to get them to Turkey as soon as possible. Here’s how it works:
The Journey
Like thousands of refugees before them, Zeba’s parents and their three children will have a long and perilous journey ahead of them where they will have to travel to the border of Turkey and cross over on foot through the mountains, which would normally take 12-14 hours under good weather conditions. The difficulty of this trek will be compounded by Zeba’s mother’s rheumatoid arthritis.
After crossing the border through the mountains, her family will travel by van to Ankara, a full day’s drive, shoulder-to-shoulder with other refugees. Once in Ankara, they will go to the United Nations to obtain their refugee cards, then look for an apartment to live in for the next several months while we work to get them here to the United States, to be reunited with Zeba, Mahnaz, and Samia, and begin their lives again.
The Cost
The travelling costs for five people is $10 000, with another $4000 to cover room and board in Ankara for three months, the cost of a mule for Zeba's mother as they trek through the mountains, and emergency expenses. This amounts to 14 000 USD in total.
We need to raise this $14 000 within the next two weeks, by February 4, 2016.
Any additional money raised will go toward helping the family settle here in Texas, or, failing that goal, travel from Turkey to a European nation where they will be fully provided for.
The funds will be managed by Zeba and ourselves, and dispensed to Zeba’s family in increments as needed, for their personal safety, until they are securely situated in Turkey.
Beyond Turkey
Once in Turkey, we will continue to work to get Zeba’s family relocated here under Zeba’s refugee status. The immigration lawyer says the process is clear and has us working with Interfaith Ministries to get them safely to their new home.
We thank you for taking the time to read this. Zeba and her children are family to us, and helping them to reunite with their family is the most natural thing we can do. Give your gifts, make a sacrifice, and share in the fullness of this family's hope for the future—the hope of a family who long for a peaceful life together.
Signed,
Thom Stark—husband, father, author, erstwhile filmmaker and blogger, programmer
Erica Stark—wife, mother, outreach associate at a Methodist church in Texas
Gabriela Stark—daughter, grade-school student, philanthropist
My wife Erica helped Zeba land her first job, at our favorite Mediterranean restaurant no less! When Zeba had to go away for a few weeks over the holidays to visit an ailing relative, the girls stayed with us, celebrated Christmas, three December birthdays (theirs and mine), and just made our home brighter. When Erica and I want a night to ourselves, our daughter spends the night with Zeba and the girls. Zeba likes to come over and cook for us (because we don’t know what we’re doing), and we talk each other’s ears off about human rights and education and Star Wars. (Yes, of course we took Mahnaz and Samia to see The Force Awakens.)
Zeba always says, “I don’t understand why this violence. We are Jews, Christians, Muslims. We all believe one God, and another world after this one. We are all brothers and sisters. They want to say, ‘You must do this. You must believe that.’ No. One God. Brothers and sisters. This is enough.” In keeping with this philosophy, Zeba calls me “bro,” and tells me, “Your new sister is going to help you stop drinking the Zero Coke.” They make us laugh a lot. The girls know that 99% of what I say is going to be sarcastic, and they can dish it back with equal measure. Zeba just inspires us to work harder, be kinder, and laugh more. We're richer now that they're in our lives.
Zeba tells her mother that she has found a family in Texas that loves her like her parents do. Her mother tells Zeba that it’s an answer to all their prayers for her and the girls. But the absolute truth is, Zeba and the girls are answers to our prayers. For everything they’ve been through, and for all the myriad ways they’ve enriched our lives, we owe them. We owe them.
Zeba’s Story
Zeba is 27 years old. Married at 15, her daughters Mahnaz and Samia just turned 11 and 10, respectively. Zeba’s former husband (we’ll call him Jim Bob, because why not) was violently abusive, and a compulsive gambler. In 2008, Zeba fled Jim Bob's violence, returning to her parents’ home, and filed for divorce. Jim Bob finally granted the divorce in 2009, but in Afghanistan, child custody is almost always granted to the father, as was the case inevitably with Zeba’s daughters. As a compulsive gambler, Jim Bob began extorting money from Zeba; he made her pay to visit her children. Knowing that he would try to make arrangements to marry-off his daughters at a young age, in September of 2009, Zeba took her daughters and fled Afghanistan to India, where she was granted refugee status by the United Nations.
As revenge, Jim Bob threatened to kidnap and kill Zeba’s younger brother, who was 7 at the time, unless Zeba returned her daughters to him. In 2012, Zeba’s mother came to visit her in India, begging her to return, for fear of her son’s life. Terrified and conflicted, Zeba went to the United Nations for advice. The United Nations counseled her absolutely not to return her daughters to Afghanistan, and began proceedings to get Zeba and the girls relocated to the United States. She now resides here in Texas. She is currently studying in college and dreams, after her family is safe, of one day returning to Afghanistan to fight for women's rights.
Her Family’s Plight
Back in Afghanistan, while Jim Bob continued to threaten her family, matters became even worse. Her family relied mostly on Zeba's sister, who was working in a commercial area of Kabul where interaction with different ethnic groups is a necessary part of her job. Within their own ethnic group (which is already a persecuted minority group) there is a band of fundamentalists who oppose women in the workforce. For this violation, her life and livelihood have been personally threatened. As a result, the family have left Afghanistan, fearing persecution from this group. They currently reside in a neighboring country that refuses to grant refugee status to anyone. Facing imminent deportation, and with Zeba’s mother in need of medical care and surgery, they find themselves in a desperate plight, just as Zeba once was. For their safety, they need to travel to Turkey where they can go to the United Nations and obtain their refugee cards. Meanwhile, Zeba works tirelessly with Interfaith Ministries and an immigration lawyer back in Texas, to get her family over here—reunited and safe. We need to get them to Turkey as soon as possible. Here’s how it works:
The Journey
Like thousands of refugees before them, Zeba’s parents and their three children will have a long and perilous journey ahead of them where they will have to travel to the border of Turkey and cross over on foot through the mountains, which would normally take 12-14 hours under good weather conditions. The difficulty of this trek will be compounded by Zeba’s mother’s rheumatoid arthritis.
After crossing the border through the mountains, her family will travel by van to Ankara, a full day’s drive, shoulder-to-shoulder with other refugees. Once in Ankara, they will go to the United Nations to obtain their refugee cards, then look for an apartment to live in for the next several months while we work to get them here to the United States, to be reunited with Zeba, Mahnaz, and Samia, and begin their lives again.
The Cost
The travelling costs for five people is $10 000, with another $4000 to cover room and board in Ankara for three months, the cost of a mule for Zeba's mother as they trek through the mountains, and emergency expenses. This amounts to 14 000 USD in total.
We need to raise this $14 000 within the next two weeks, by February 4, 2016.
Any additional money raised will go toward helping the family settle here in Texas, or, failing that goal, travel from Turkey to a European nation where they will be fully provided for.
The funds will be managed by Zeba and ourselves, and dispensed to Zeba’s family in increments as needed, for their personal safety, until they are securely situated in Turkey.
Beyond Turkey
Once in Turkey, we will continue to work to get Zeba’s family relocated here under Zeba’s refugee status. The immigration lawyer says the process is clear and has us working with Interfaith Ministries to get them safely to their new home.
We thank you for taking the time to read this. Zeba and her children are family to us, and helping them to reunite with their family is the most natural thing we can do. Give your gifts, make a sacrifice, and share in the fullness of this family's hope for the future—the hope of a family who long for a peaceful life together.
Signed,
Thom Stark—husband, father, author, erstwhile filmmaker and blogger, programmer
Erica Stark—wife, mother, outreach associate at a Methodist church in Texas
Gabriela Stark—daughter, grade-school student, philanthropist
Organisator
Thom Stark
Organisator
Houston, TX
