When Mohammad Agha Mohammadi prepared Qabili palau, the national dish of Afghanistan, he called his mother. He wanted to make sure he had the right balance of cardamom and cumin.
“I talk to my parents every day. I also text them,” says Mohammadi.
For now, phone calls and text messages will have to suffice. His parents and five siblings remain stuck in Kabul, and he doesn’t know when they will be reunited.
Mohammadi, 20, is one of more than 80,000 Afghans airlifted to the United States after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last August. He is also one of nearly 360 Afghans helped by the Sponsor Circle program for Afghan refugees, a pioneering resettlement program that invites ordinary Americans like Gerard and Eileen Monaghan of New Milford, Connecticut, to get involved.
“I know people say we’re a melting pot, but I think we’re more like a stew. All the people who come here make the country a better place,” says Gerard Monaghan.
Each circle is made up of at least five adults from the same community. After passing a background check, these people help people access housing, enroll children in school, and find jobs and English lessons if needed. Each circle must raise a minimum of $2,275 per refugee it welcomes.
The Monaghans and their entourage have raised more than $6,000 for clothes, school and a car when Mohammadi gets his driver’s license so he can eventually drive to school.
They also offer friendship and moral support.
“Mohammad asked me why I’m doing this. I told him I can’t do anything for the millions out there who are starving and struggling, but I can take you and move you forward. It’s a drop in the bucket. But it’s a drop,” says Eileen Monaghan.
Rethinking Resettlement
Developed in partnership with the Community Sponsorship Hub (CSH), a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisers, the US State Department-supported program was born out of necessity.
Traditionally, refugees and humanitarian parolees go through the US Resettlement Network, which was established by the Refugee Resettlement Act of 1980. Under the Trump administration, about a third of the 200 resettlement agencies have closed as the cap on refugees in the United States has been reduced to a record low. The network has been decimated, says Isabel Burton, senior director of community engagement initiatives at HIAS, which helps resettle refugees around the world.
“When Afghanistan fell, we [HIAS] only had the capacity to resettle about 35,000 people. So we looked around and asked how to fill that gap,” says Burton. “The answer lay in sponsorship circles, an idea that was already gaining traction among members of the resettlement community. We accelerated the program and pulled out all the stops.”
In addition to HIAS, CSH has worked with several nonprofits and private companies, including Airbnb.org, Episcopal Migration Ministries, International Rescue Committee, and RefugePoint.
“I hope this opportunity to welcome Afghans is something that can embed that value of welcome into communities and states across the country in a much deeper way than it currently exists,” he said. said Sasha Chanoff, CEO and founder of non-profit organization RefugePoint and recipient of The Charles Bronfman Award for Humanitarian Work, said. “The idea of the program is that it expands to help other refugee populations.”
Fleeing the Taliban – twice
Mohammadi was born in Tehran, Iran, where his parents had sought refuge during the early Taliban era. It was in 2001, shortly before the United States invaded Afghanistan. Two years later, the family returned to Kabul.
In 2018, Mohammadi became the first in his family to graduate from high school. After learning English in school, he started taking Chinese classes at a private university. Her father continued to work at a local private K-8 school for girls and boys. Her mother was busy with her siblings, the youngest of whom is 5 years old.
Over time, the situation has become more precarious.
“Until a week before the Taliban arrived, we hadn’t thought of leaving,” Mohammadi said.
On August 25, Mohammadi and his cousin flew to Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“It was 10 o’clock in the evening. My father told me to go. I took my clothes and my papers. That’s all. There was no time,” says Mohammadi.
The rest of the family had planned to join him the following night. But the airport closed when a suicide bomber struck outside the Abbey gate, killing 170 civilians and 13 US military personnel.
A few days later, Mohammadi and his cousin were sitting on the floor of a C-17 with several hundred other people. The aircraft refueled in Kuwait before landing at Fort Pickett, Virginia on September 1.
“I met a lot of people. The Marines were nice. What I noticed was the humanity of the people and the freedom here,” Mohammadi says.
As nice as the US Marines are and as safe as he feels, he is eager to go beyond the base. After five months of waiting for selection and resettlement instructions, he learned that he was going to leave.
The Monaghans picked up Mohammadi from Bradley International Airport shortly after midday on January 29. He had been up since 2 a.m. His first meal with them was a McDonald’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich. A month later, he moved in.
One of the first things Mohammadi got upon arriving in this small Connecticut town on the banks of the Housatonic River was a library card.
He has since gotten his Social Security card and signed up for Medicare and SNAP. He also has his learner’s license and practices driving. He will enroll in summer school at Western Connecticut State University, which will bring him one step closer to earning his undergraduate degree in accounting.
Although he and the Monaghans spend a few hours a day planning and telephoning, he has found time to travel a bit.
Mohammadi took the train to Alexandria, Virginia, to visit his family.
“He was a little nervous about the train, but I said if you can get out of Kabul, you can take Amtrak,” Eileen Monaghan said.
He also visited a cousin in Lenox, Massachusetts, and the Monaghans’ son in Boston.
“I love Boston. I want to go to Harvard for my MBA,” he says.
More help on the way?
Now that the first phase of Operation Allies Welcome is complete – the last Afghans left military bases in early February – RefugePoint is focusing on the next phase of this operation. The U.S. government will continue to welcome Afghans from overseas shelters, who have been fully screened and vetted, into a domestic facility.
While Afghans who worked with the U.S. government received special immigrant visas allowing them permanent residency and federal funds to help start over, others like . Mohammadi are humanitarian words. This means they can stay in the United States for up to two years. Advocates are pushing Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would extend qualifications for general refugee status to more evacuees — like Mohammadi.
Between making calls to get paperwork done and finding a job, Mohammadi plays Monopoly and Uno. He linked up with Gerard Monaghan for ‘The Outpost’ – a film adapted from Jake Tapper’s book – and the film ‘We Were Soldiers Once and Young’.
“I watch Mohammad and I can see the great things he’s going to do here,” Monaghan said.
This story is of the Solutions Journalism networka nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous reporting on responses to social issues.
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