Posts by justinli
Anzhella’s Story: Do Unto Others
âMy mom was so grateful. Even for the littlest things, she would say, âThank you God!â She would appreciate everything.â
Anzhella (she goes by Angela here in the United States because people often have trouble pronouncing her given name correctly) came to the US when she was six years old. In addition to a twin sister, her parents had three more children at the time, and her mom was pregnant with her second pair of twins. After their arrival and before World Relief set them up with housing, they all lived at her grandparentsâ house, along with a variety of other relatives who had arrived in the US.
âOne huge family at my grandmaâs house.â Her overwhelming memory of that time, however, is not chaos, but joy.
âWhen we got here in 2000, my parents were the happiest people in the world. There was a huge group of people at the airport to greet us. We could go to school, have religious freedom, and opportunities. My parents were excited to make that happen for us because there wasnât much future for us in Ukraine.â
Angela and her family came from the Ukraine through the Lautenberg Program, a special program created in 1990 to allow family members currently in the US to bring their relatives from the former Soviet Union to resettle in the US as refugees. The program, which focuses on freedom from religious persecution, is still in effect today. It closes every year on September 30 and must be re-approved on an annual basis.
Angela said her family arrived with very little. âWorld Relief gave us furniture and clothing. Clothing was huge for us because we didnât have the right clothes for the season when we arrived. They set us up with housing and connected us to Habitat for Humanity so that we could build our first house in the US; a place we can truly call home.â
A New Community
Perhaps the biggest gift, however, was that World Relief connected Angelaâs family with a case manager, Alla Derevenchuk, who in turn connected Angelaâs family with a school Support Specialist, Sandi Solverson, who became a lifelong friend. âIt was a perfect match.â Like Angela and her two little brothers, Sandi was also a twin and connected quickly with the family. Angelaâs mom was so grateful to have someone she could call to help navigate life in this country. Sandi would notice what the family lacked, and she would help them acquire those things by connecting them with available resources. âShe always set us up with resources like the Christmas Bureau, back-to-school supplies, vouchers for shoes, and so much more! We still keep in touch.â Sandy came to her sistersâ weddings among other events. âShe was someone my mom trusted, and that gave her peace of mind during the chaos of resettlement.
âMy parentsâ goal was to work hard and make a better life for us; so that we had the opportunity to get an education and good jobs instead of âtoiling in the sunâ the way they did.â Her parents both worked and went to school to learn English. After about five years, her father, who is an entrepreneur, started his own trucking company. âWhen the market crashed and the business closed, he didnât give up there. He opened up an adult family home which has been running for 12 years now.â
Joining the Team
After getting her Bachelorâs degree in social work, Angela came to work for World Relief. As the Initial Healthcare Coordinator, she makes certain that new arrivals are set up with health insurance. She navigates the Washington Health Plan Finder for health insurance, secures a State ID card for each person and coordinates refugee health screenings. For pregnant women and moms with young children, she makes sure they get set up with WIC. And for elderly patients, she helps them apply for SSI.
âI didnât know how hard it can be to coordinate so many different areas of a personâs life.â
Angela does all of her work behind the scenes before a family arrives â reading their medical records, researching their needs, and coordinating with healthcare providers for a smooth transition into the US healthcare system. âI want to be prepared ahead of time so that families receive the care they desperately need right away.â
Angela said one of her favorite Bible verses is Matthew 7:12, the golden rule: âDo unto others as you would have them do unto you.â
âWhen I meet new immigrants and refugees, I want to give them everything I can so they can succeed.â
When I asked Angela what made her want to do this work, she referred again to her mom: âI remember hearing how thankful my mom was for all the resources. We wouldnât have been able to get to where we are today without those, and thatâs why I wanted to help others. Nothing makes me happier. My mom had that happiness when she helped other people who came here after us, and my dad when he gave driving lessons to newcomers. Being able to give instead of just receiving brought us great joy.â
Family is still a binding force in Angelaâs life. âNobody in our family is going to forsake one another. Weâll always be there for each other.â
In fact, every Sunday, they gather together. It used to be at her grandmaâs house, and now, Sunday dinner is at her momâs house. Stuffed peppers, garbanzo bean soup and plachinte, a cottage cheese pastry, are just a few of the favorites. Hereâs a recipe for you to try from Angelaâs family.
Garbanzo Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 cup Garbanzo Beans (also known as chickpeas)
3 cups of homemade chicken broth
1 onion (chopped into cubes)
1-2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon of crushed chipotle pepper (or less)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of dried dill
Instructions:
- Soak 1 cup garbanzo beans in 3 cups of lukewarm water overnight. Before cooking, throw away the water from the garbanzo beans.
- Add garbanzo beans to room temperature chicken broth. Bring to a boil. (The temperature of the chicken broth should be room temperature to avoid hardening of the beans.) Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 1 œ to 2 hours (until tender).
- While beans are simmering, chop 1 large onion into cubes. Add 2 tablespoons of oil into a frying pan and sautĂ© the onion on medium-low heat. If desired, add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. Once onion is almost ready, add 1-2 teaspoons of Smoked Paprika (or regular paprika if you donât have smoked) and 1/4 teaspoon of crushed chipotle pepper (or just a pinch for flavor) and sautĂ© for another minute or until onions are a golden color.
- Once the beans are tender and ready, add the sautĂ©ed onions, 1 teaspoon of dill , and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the chicken broth and beans (you may add more as desired, but it will not taste good if itâs too salty)
- Bring to a boil and then turn it off, mix altogether and ENJOY!
You can learn more about World Relief and the work we do by clicking here.
Meeting New Neighbors: First Impressions
Balinda. Anzhella. Rezvan. Ibadallah. Aziz. Ivan. Massuda. Elena. Haitham. Ivan. Abdul. Andrey. Morella. Halima. Viktorya. Just saying the names of a few of the people and new neighbors I have met in my first week of work at World Relief Spokane makes me smile. They come from the Ukraine, Congo, Afghanistan, Russia — places I have never been and may never have the opportunity to visit. Still, right here in Spokane, Washington, I have the opportunity to meet them, to listen to them speak in beautifully accented English or to catch snippets of their conversations in other languages. At lunch, I am offered poppy seed cookies (a Ukrainian favorite) or naan (middle eastern flatbread). My world â my senses, my understanding, my perspective â is about to undergo a radical transformation. I can hardly wait.
I hope you will join me as together we meet people from all over the world and hear their stories.
Last Monday, I arrived at 1522 N Washington as the Development Director for World Relief Spokane. In some ways, I was not the most likely candidate for the job. Yes, my career has been in marketing and fundraising for non-profits, but immigration and refugees are new subjects for me. I have barely been over the borders into Canada and Mexico and no further. I speak one language, and up until now, frankly, my world has been pretty white and pretty ethnocentric. Although not entirely. For 14.5 years, I worked for Union Gospel Mission in Spokane, telling the stories of people experiencing homelessness, many of whom had experienced horrific childhood trauma. Their stories expanded my understanding of what it means to love my neighbor, to see beyond the surface of a personâs life, to extend compassion in a meaningful way, to live for reasons beyond my own success and comfort. Now, Iâm preparing to further grow my understanding, to hear and tell stories that will encompass a different kind of homelessness, another form of trauma, and rejection on a national scale.
I have to start with the basics:
Who is a refugee? A refugee is someone who has had to flee his or her home country due to violence or persecution. By definition, a refugee has been invited to come to the United States and comes here legally.*
In 2021, 89.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.
- 53.2 million of these people are internally displaced within their own countries; 27.1 million are refugees.
- Roughly 36.5 million (41%) of the 89.3 million forcibly displaced people are children below 18 years of age. (The UN Refugee Agency)
This week, I spoke with a woman whose family fled Ukraine twenty-two years ago when she was six years old due to religious persecution. Because they were Christians, the children were not allowed to go to school. I spoke with a medical doctor whose wife worked for the US Embassy in Afghanistan, and when Kabul fell, they had two hoursâ notice to evacuate. I spoke with a woman who had been a refugee her whole life before coming to the United States. They are all our neighbors.
How many refugees come to the US? A total of 11,411 refugees (18 percent of Bidenâs announced target of 62,500) were resettled in the United States in fiscal year 2021. (Center for Immigration Studies)
Which countries are accepting the most refugees? 38% of the total number of refugees are hosted in just five countries: Turkey (3.8 million), Colombia (1.8 million), Uganda (1.5 million), Pakistan (1.5 million) and Germany (1.3 million). Poor and middle-income countries are shouldering more than their share of the burden.
Who is an immigrant?
An immigrant is anyone who takes up permanent residence in a foreign country. All refugees are immigrants, but not all immigrants are refugees. We will look at other categories of immigrants in future blog posts.
First and foremost, refugees and immigrants are human beings created in the image of God. They are our brothers and sisters.
âDo not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners because you were foreigners in Egypt.â Exodus 23:9
“Immigrants today, whatever their manner of entry, come primarily for the same reasons that immigrants have always come to our country. Though immigration policies have changed quite drastically over the last two centuries, immigrants themselves are still pushed out of their countries of origin by poverty, war, and persecution, and are still drawn to the United States by promises of jobs and economic advancement, freedom and family reunification. These push-and-pull factors explain most, if not all, of immigration to the United States from the time of the first settlers to today.â (Welcoming the Stranger, p. 45)
For most of us, the idea of being forced from our homes or prevented from going to school or church or the market, the fear of being kidnapped or killed, or receiving notice that we must be evacuated within hours are so far removed as to seem unreal, but for millions of people those scenarios are very real.
We cannot fix the global problem, but we can make our city a welcoming place for the 650 new neighbors we expect to arrive next year. And to those 650 people, it can make all the difference in the world.
Learn more about World Relief and the work we do by clicking the link here.
*Legal definition of ârefugeeâ from the UN Refugee Agency: someone who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
Alexis Dubreuil: Intern Reflection
Iâve always considered it a blessing to have been raised in an environment that exposed me to different types of peoples and cultures. I am one of a lucky few to have this blessing; the potlucks at my churches always presented a beautiful array of food originating from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and South America. I prided myself in knowing that I was never truly a victim of culture-shocksâembracing and celebrating differences was naturalâ exciting, even.
Additionally, as a French major and an International Studies major with a political science emphasis, I have spent the past two and a half years delving deep into the histories, cultures, and current political environments of many different countries. I speak French and Spanish well enough to conversate. These are all things I was able to tell the Intern Coordinator at World Relief, a Christian based non-profit organization that works with helping refugees upon their entrance to America, that I believed both qualified me and made me excited for a position.
I became an intern at the Spokane location twice a week for 4-7 hours a shift under the lead Job Developer for refugees. Her job, as written, was to help connect refugees after they have settled in their first few weeks, to potential employers so that they can become self-sufficient. In my head, I imagined my job would be meeting with incoming refugees, interviewing and writing resumes with them, and connecting them directly with hiring jobs in the area. I was expecting to form relationships with the cases I worked with, and to utilize my cultural competency to navigate barriers in communication.
Scratch that.
The stress, confusion, and disarray that was the U.S. removal of troops from Afghanistan shifted my role completely. This fall, World Relief was pressed for donations, for volunteers, and with the creation of a new Afghan parolee system specifically for helping the extremely large influx of Afghan refugees, all hands were on deck. It was an extremely unique time to start working for the organizationâno longer was my role to simply be writing resumes, but, as my director explained, I wore many hats.
On a day-to-day basis, I juggled many tasks: sometimes I was taking my clients to job interviews, sometimes taking them to doctorâs appointments, and sometimes picking their kids up from school, and sometimes doing all of that and then some in a single afternoon. I had to learn how to drive and park a ten-seater van during my time there so I could help drive big families. My supervisor was amazing, and believed in the relationships formed more than just the bare minimum of the job, and wanted the same for me. I met with clients, but I also went to their houses, I brought their kids toys, and I helped them move to different apartments.
Forming these relationships could not have been more rewarding. Although knowing Dari, Pashto, Vietnamese, or Swahili would have been much more useful than French, I was able to connect to Francophone clients in a way that my coworkers could not. I became close to one of my clients from Congo, a young mother with four kids. Getting to know her and her kids was a highlight of my internship; seeing how she cared for her kids and engaged with all of the resources World Relief had showed her ambition to build a new life. It is so obvious to me that refugees in America are driven and intelligent. It is beyond me how anyone could claim that refugees and migrants have nothing to contribute when they are the people that seize every opportunity to build this country up.
However much joy there can be with working with refugees, working with people exiled from their country also requires a lot of sensitivity. Sometimes clients would share, sometimes they would notâseeing refugees not just as people immigrating, but as people that have had their lives completely changed (for many, in a matter of days), calls for empathy from the staff.
A client walked in one morning to speak with my supervisor, and was telling me a bit about the Taliban activity in his village far from Kabul. He showed me pictures of hundreds of Afghans standing in a plane, packed like sardines to get to America. Afterward, he told me about his family that had to escape to Kabul where they would not be identified as being associated with him at all. This was because he drove trucks that transported goods to the US military as work. I was in charge of this individualâs entry interview, and I remember asking him, âYouâve been here for about a week, what do you like most about Spokane thus far?â He replied, âMe and my family are safe.â
While every refugeeâs story is different, most of the refugees I spoke with had stories just as intense. They made me think hard on everything I take for granted in the US. While the United States has plenty of its own pressing problems and structural issues, I have never feared for my life in the way many of these individuals have; it was a very unique time of reflection for me.
Besides the work itself, the work environment was absolutely amazing. I think the work environment is unlike any other. My colleagues embody family. They care for each other and for their clients, and it is reflected in how many clients come back to either work for, work with, or simply spend time with the staff of World Relief. They are extremely driven towards their mission, and love working with interns and volunteers. I recognize that my experience was unlike any other, and I am grateful for everyone I met and every experience I had.
As I move forward in my career, I will always think of the dedicated staff and driven refugees at World Relief.
Alexis Dubreuil interned with World Relief Spokane during Fall/Winter 2021. She is a student at Whitworth University studying International Studies and French. Thank you for being part of our team, Alexis! Click here for a list of available internship opportunities.
Stories of the Season: Former Refugee Serves on Two Reserves
Ehblu recently graduated Spokane Police Department’s reserve training. This is his story.
“My nameâs Ehblu. I was a refugee. I came here in 2008, to Spokane, with my family. I was eighteen years old when I got here.
“Before I came here, I was born and raised in a refugee camp. My family, they were from Burma. They ended up in a refugee camp in Thailand. Back in 1989. The name of the camp is Maw Ker. I was born in that camp in 1990, and I lived there about 10 years. We had to relocate to a different camp â the name of that camp was Ump Hiem. We moved there in 1999. We lived there for about 8 years before I moved here. When I was there, I was just a student. I didnât do anything. I just went to school and had fun with friends, thatâs all. Didnât do anything much.
“When I came here in 2008, they connected me with World Relief. They would help me with trying to find shelter, a house, and help me find a job. I still remember Pingala. She still works here! She helped me with finding a job. From there, way back, 12 years ago â thatâs how I got connected with World Relief.
“My first job was at Spokane Valley. Spokane International Pet Rescue. Thereâs a lot of Karen people who work there now. I worked there about 6 months and got laid off. I stopped working, about a year. But when I stopped working, I went to school. I was trying to improve my English at that time.
“I went to the adult education center on Monroe Street for about 2 years. I started to work at Spokane Public Schools as a bilingual specialist in 2010. I was a part time employee for about 4 years. In 2014, I got hired as a full timer there, and in late 2015, I started college here at Spokane Community College. I just finished my AA this summer. It took me about 4 or 5 years. In 2017, I joined the US Navy Reserve program. Then, in 2021, I joined the SPD reserve, the Spokane Police Reserve program. We have training and a lot of classes, about 280 hours of classes. I just finished last September. This September, about 2 months ago. So Iâm in both the Navy Reserve and the Spokane Police Reserve.
Image description: photo of Ehblu receiving his police badge from a family member at his graduation ceremony.
âThe reason I joined the police officers â itâs because I came straight from the refugee camp to Spokane. The people are very nice. They welcome me. The communities are great. Spokane is part of my community now. I think, for me, itâs my responsibility to keep my community safe, and do something back for the community. Maybe to set the example for other refugee youth who came here, to show them that, hey, it doesnât matter where you came from. As long as you keep trying, you can do anything. Thatâs what inspired me to do the things Iâm doing now.
âTo have a community, itâs about neighbors that help one another. Everyone wants to be in a community thatâs safe. My family is in a safe community. Like a bad community, no one helps each other. In a good community, you feel safe to leave your family when you go somewhere. Your community has your back when youâre away from your family.
âThereâs a pastor called Pastor Doug. He is the one who helped my family a lot. He helped with transportation, and with living stuff that we didnât know. He basically helped us with everything when we got here, during the first 1-2 years. Thereâs a church â he sometimes take us to go to church. Heâs not just helping us with basic stuff. He also helps sometimes with the forms. When we came here, we didnât have jobs, so thereâs a form when people need work. He connected us with those people, so we can earn some little money. When you need him, heâll be there for you. Iâm getting really busy with my work, and things are better now, but sometimes I still connect with him. Thereâs also a woman called Susan. Most of the Karen people, we also know her. She helps us a lot with stuff. We go to see her, with a lot of mail, and some food stamps and social things. Sheâs helping us a lot. These two help us a lot.
Image description: Official image of Ehblu in his Navy uniform.
âIâm still doing the Navy Reserve. I signed up for about six years. This is my fifth year now, so I have one more year. But I plan to do at least 20 years. I love what Iâm doing in the Navy. Before I came here, I lived in a refugee camp. Without this country, without this government, I wonât be able to make it here. Living in a refugee camp, it was very hard to make money. Even if you have money, you might not be able to come here. Because of this government, I was able to be here. I donât want to take things for granted, so I want to do something back for this country. So thatâs why I chose to join the Navy Reserve. I didnât have any ideas about what the Navy looks like, I had no one to talk to. But I signed up for it. And boom! It took just a little bit of time to sign up and get to boot camp and to the training camp.
âMy goals keep changing. My goal is to be a social worker one day, trying to help. When I help others, I feel so happy. When I get to do something and change someoneâs life, when I am able to help them, it makes me feel like I want to do some more. It makes me feel more motivated to help others.
âI did apply to go to Eastern Washington University, but I havenât started yet. I still need to talk to the advisor. So I finished my AA here. My goal is to be able to start university at Eastern and to start to take some classes in the next year. Next month. I think you can do anything you want to, as long as you keep trying.â
Justin Li | 12/23/21
Stories of the Season: Mustaba’s Restaurant
This Christmas season, we’re celebrating the accomplishments of former refugees in our community. This is the story of Mustaba and Tantuni Restaurant.
âIâve been in the United States five years and 2 months. I came to the US when I was 19 years old, and I started as a student in high school. Everyone told me at that time that I canât graduate from the high school, because I only had 2 years. I started as a freshman, but after 2 years I graduated, and finished all my classes. Yeah, that was my first achievement here. It was a lot of sadness, a lot of giving up. At the same time, I thought, âEveryone can do it, why I canât do it?â If you believe in yourself, you can do whatever you want.
âI came from Turkey. I used to live in Turkey. Most of the struggles I had there, were because I didnât know if I would come here or not. You really get frustrated there. You donât know whatâs your future, donât know what youâre gonna do. I came here on October 6, 2016. After that, I started thinking about my life, thinking about my future.
Image description: a portrait of Mustaba sitting at a table in his restaurant. He is looking out the window.
âWhen I first went to World Relief, they taught me about the life here, what people are thinking. I like the classes there. They teach you how to live with the other people from different cities, from different worlds. Theyâre all thinking youâre a human, and theyâre just thinking everyone should deserve a better life. Which is what I like about them. Whenever I went there, they would help me with a smile.
âWhen I got my first job here, I was working in a restaurant. I worked with Fadha. He was my manager. We used to share lots of breaks together, so we would talk. Heâs from the same country, so it was easy to talk about lot of stuff, especially in Arabic. So he told me about himself. Fadhaâs been a chef for 22 years now. He used to work with an American company to do a buffet, for American people. He was the head chef over there. Fadha told me a lot of stories, and he cooked for me as well, and I really liked his food. I was joking with him, I was like, âif I open a restaurant, I will make you my chef.â And we were joking about it because he didnât believe that. I didnât believe it either. Fadha was my manager. And I really didnât think about it.
âI always say I have two families. One is my regular family, like my parents, my brothers. My other family is my friends. In this life, you have to find two families: a family who raises you and takes care of you, and family who will support you â thatâs my friends. Whateverâs happened, whateverâs going to happen, I will still have these two families forever. In the happy time, in the sad time. All the time, they were with me. I love both my families.
âMy brother is from both families. He is my brother and my best friend as well. We donât have that rivalry between brothers. When we were kids, we were like Tom and Jerry. We were fighting all the time. My brother, heâs older than me by five years. We were fighting so hard. This scar on my eyebrow, thatâs from him. Today, the eyebrow scar, itâs like the models, itâs like a style. When I was 4 and he was 9, I broke his train toy. My dad brought it from India, I think. He brought it to him. And my brother was playing with it, and I just broke it. And he was mad and hit me. Now, he is my best friend and my brother at the same time. But I like to call him best friend better.
âHe found a place, and we planned to open a restaurant there in March 2020. A restaurant called Tantuni. I studied everything. If you donât know anything about the business youâre going to open, youâre not going to get anything. So I studied the people here, the ethnicities here. I studied the culture. I studied what people like and donât like. I was going to a lot of restaurants. When I went, I didnât want to eat. I was looking at the dĂ©cor, the customer service. Sometimes, I asked people if they liked the food or not. I got ideas, and collected those ideas together. When we tried to sign the contract for the restaurant, COVID hit and cancelled everything. Weâre back now, after everything.
Image description: a picture of Tantuni’s newly remodeled interior. There is a Christmas tree beside the serving counter.
âMy brother and I used to remodel houses before we started Tantuni. From our experience remodeling, we remodeled all the restaurant all by ourselves. Everything here is by our hand. The lights, the pictures, the TVs, even the logo. It was our idea. We went to the guy who did logos and said we want something like this. We gave him the idea, and he just drew and made it for us. We brought our ideas together. The colors, my brother picked the black color and I picked the orange. Even the dĂ©cor we had ideas together. We did everything together. Our friends helped a lot. Hussein, and Mohamed, and Tito. They helped us open this restaurant. I called Fadha, my old manager, and I told him, âHey, Iâm opening a restaurant called Tantuni. Do you still want to work with me?â And he laughed, because he thought I was joking. When he met me and my brother, we agreed about everything. Fadhaâs our chef now. I still canât believe that.
Image description: a photo of Mustaba posing with the sign for his new restaurant, Tantuni.
âItâs just the beginning. I donât want to do something and leave it in the middle. Iâm not stopping when people say you got success, you did a great job. Itâs not a great job for me until I see Tantuni as a brand, like the fast food chains. A better brand. The idea of opening this restaurant, I wanted to make it a mix between fast food and cuisine food. Cuisine is fresh food, delicious food, and cooked right away. And fast food, the order is going to take 10-15 minutes at most. I just want to show the people, itâs fancy fast food. When people come here, theyâll trust me about what theyâre eating. Thatâs what itâs all about here. I donât want to make money, I want to make customers.
âMy brotherâs in Turkey now. He got married, and heâs waiting for the consulate in Ankara so they can meet his wife and he can bring her here. Heâs just waiting there. Iâm praying for him every day. So he can come and see what he did. He was here when we signed the contract for the restaurant. But he left 2 weeks before Tantuni opened. He canât see what we do until he sees with his own eyes. Even if I told him everything for 24 hours, it would not feel right until he sees with his eyes. Hopefully, heâll come soon. âI got a lot of ideas. I like to think differently than other people. I like to be unique in my thinking, in my ideas. I like to be positive all the time. Youâre only going to live one time, this life. If your mentality and mind are set up for positive thing and happiness, if you like to see people happy, youâll be happy as well. I just hope everything will be fine in 2022, and all the people will be safe and happy. Thatâs what I wish for. But what happens in the future, letâs just keep in the future. As my dad says, âDonât think about the future, make it.â Whatever you want to do, whatever youâre going to be, make it by your hand. Nobodyâs going to come to you and say, âOh, you want to be a doctor? Iâll make you a doctor.â I want to finish my dream, to be an engineer. I wanted to be a petroleum engineer. But I think in the future, the petroleum will be all gone. The world will need new energy. So I believe electrical engineering will be the best path for me. No oneâs walking with a magic stick to make your wish a reality. If you want something, make it happen.â
Justin Li | 12/20/2021
Afghans in Spokane reflect on the situation in Afghanistan
Last week, we sat down with Sayed and Hashemi to hear their perspective on the situation in Afghanistan. Sayed and Hashemi had been friends for years before they each decided to move to the United States. They worked for the same company, contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Seven years ago, they came to Spokane on Special Immigrant Visas (SIV). Now, their relatives are trying to follow in their footsteps.
âEven with that government, we didnât feel safe and we moved here,â Sayed said. âNow you see everythingâs changing, and itâs much worse than even we were thinking.â
Nine years ago, Sayed was traveling in a car on a routine trip from Kabul to Ghazni when his vehicle struck another driven by Taliban fighters. Sayed said it was âgood fortuneâ that the Taliban let them go â but he knew he had to leave Afghanistan. He arrived in the U.S. as an SIV a year and a half before Hashemi. With assistance from World Relief Spokane, he resettled in Spokane and has lived here ever since.
Hashemi did not have such a close call with the Taliban, but still felt unsafe in Afghanistan. Not only was he working for the U.S. government, but he and Sayed are also from the Hazaras ethnic group, who predominantly follow Shia Islam and have faced persecution for over a century.
âMany times, repeatedly, they [the Taliban] have mentioned killing Hazara people is allowed,â Hashemi said. âNo limitation on it.â
Hashemi had also worked with local media in Afghanistan, so his âpicture and name was everywhere.â This, in combination with his Hazara identity and connections to the U.S., made him decide to apply for an SIV. Hashemi came to Spokane with Sayed as a reference, and resettled here through our Resettlement and Placement (R&P) Program.
âActually, it was not really hard,â he said about the SIV process. âIt took just a year for me. But I know some people â they came earlier than me, when we have applied at the same time.â
Watching from Spokane
On August 30, 2021, the U.S. military ended its withdrawal from Afghanistan, finalizing Taliban control over the country. Sayed and Hashemi felt the effects of the takeover immediately. Both of their extended families still live in Afghanistan. Sayed has four sisters-in-law who worked in important academic and government positions in Kabul. Because the Taliban does not allow women to work, they have been forced to stay at home.
âNow, they all have no jobs,â he said. âAnd look at those four critical jobs, in a country like AfghanistanâŠitâs been two months. They havenât received any income.â
Sayed said he tried to help his sister and sisters-in-law, but there are problems on both sides. He has applied for humanitarian parole for his family, but has to wait weeks to months to hear back. In Afghanistan, his relatives have experienced difficulty receiving the money he has sent them.
âThey donât have access to their bank account,â Sayed said. âBecause, if you go to the bank, you can only withdraw 10,000 Afghani, which is less than $200.â
Other family members who were part of the Afghan military will not go to the bank at all, for fear of being spotted by the Taliban. Hashemiâs family is in a similar situation. One of his brothers had to leave Afghanistan and his family because he had previously spoken out against the Taliban. Another relative was killed while serving as a commander in the Afghan military.
Hashemi has also tried sending money to his family, but like Sayed, they have had problems with the bank.
âMy wifeâs niece, she is also a dentist, but now she lost her job,â he said. âAnd now, she is in Kabul, but not living at her dadâs house. In another part of Kabul. She is alone over there.
âWomen, girls, they all lose their jobs. They stay home, like prisoners.â
Hashemi and Sayed agree that the hardships their families are facing are not unique to them. They believe all Afghan families are facing these problems, especially members of minority groups. One of their concerns is that when winter arrives, many families will not have the resources to take care of themselves.
âItâs more than a challenge,â Sayed said. âEspecially when winter comes. Itâs super cold, freezing, in Kabul, in most of the cities in Afghanistan. So they cannot supply their needs.â
Support from the community
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic began and Spokane went into lockdown, the Afghan Jafaria community, which Sayed and Hashemi are part of, formed a connection with Shadle Park Presbyterian Church, one of our local church partners. They have a good relationship with Steve Lympus, the head pastor at Shadle Park.
âHeâs helping us as much as he can,â Sayed said.
He and Hashemi both expressed appreciation for the support they have received from Shadle Parkâs community. Hashemi said his American-born friends in Spokane often checked on him and his family.
âWe have friends repeatedly asking how we can help you, financially,â he said. âTheyâre praying for us. A lot of people like that, living in Spokane. Thank you so much, to all Spokane.â
He and Sayed agreed that advocacy was crucial for them. They asked their neighbors in Spokane to address their local representatives and advocate increased support for Afghan allies.
âPhysically weâre here, but mentally not,â Sayed said. âThe situation affects our job, the quality of our job, the way we live here.
âI would ask people in Spokane to understand Afghans and the Afghan community, including the Jafaria community. Because if they understand, we can live better.â
Justin Li | 10/1/21
World Relief Spokane expecting hundreds of refugees
SPOKANE, Wash. – World Relief Spokane is currently home to less than a dozen refugees from Afghanistan. However, in the coming months, they expect an influx of at least 300 more.
Director of Development Kevin Benson told KHQ World Relief was promised federal funding, but that it hasn’t arrived. He said they’ve been relying mainly on donations from the community.
“The need is far greater than the resources right now,” Benson said.
Outside of financial difficulties, Benson said the agency also wrestles with the phycological impacts refugees experience when uprooting their lives in such a short time.
“Quite literally, people may have been running for their lives before they were able to get to a place of safety and were able to get here,” Benson said.
Resolution would express Spokaneâs support for resettling Afghan refugees
Spokane City Council to vote on a nonbinding resolution expressing support for Afghan refugees.
With hundreds expected to arrive in the coming months, the Spokane City Council will vote on a resolution Monday expressing support for the relocation of Afghan refugees here.
Though nonbinding, the resolution would formally state elected officialsâ support for taking in those fleeing Afghanistan as the United States withdrew its military and the Taliban gained control last month.
The resolution notes the assistance that many Afghans provided to the U.S. military during its nearly 20-year war in the country.
World Relief Spokane expecting arrival of Afghan refugees
World Relief Spokane talks about new Afghan arrivals and its history with Afghan refugees.
SPOKANE, Wash. – World Relief Spokane is expecting the arrival of Afghan refugees by the end of the week
World Relief said the next couple of months refugees are going to be needing help from finding housing, jobs, learning English and getting their kids into the school system.