Feature Story

Today marks one year since Kabul fell to the Taliban. Read Farishta’s captivating story as she fled Afghanistan with her family, and was resettled in North Texas by World Relief.

Farishta’s Story

Farishta and her husband Omid Shah lived normal lives in Afghanistan, both with successful careers in the medical field. She and Omid Shah come from generations of doctors and medical professionals. Farishta received a Bachelor’s degree in Pakistan, and after marrying Omid Shah, moved to Kabul where she completed another medical degree. Shortly after, she and Omid Shah celebrated the birth of their first son, and were happy with their lives in Afghanistan. Before the Taliban came, she desired to move into a specialized practice, but now, everything she would have worked for in Kabul is destroyed. Her husband practiced and studied medicine in Pakistan for many years, then became a general surgeon, eventually moving to work for the U.S. army.

A History of Displacement

August of 2021 marked the fourth time in Farishta’s family history that they had to flee Afghanistan for their own safety. Farishta can recall as a child fleeing to Pakistan during the first Taliban invasion. As Farishta’s mother fled from the Taliban with 3 children, they left everything behind. While living in Pakistan, they experienced many hungry nights, as it was hard for them to start their lives over. Her mother eventually brought them back to Afghanistan after five years when the country had become safer. She vividly remembers returning to her empty home in Afghanistan. Everything that was left in their home when they fled was stolen. 

Life became normal back in Afghanistan. All of her brothers and sisters, despite the trauma of displacement, grew up to become extremely successful. Her own brother became a college professor, spokesperson for the Republic of Afghanistan, and a policy maker. Her husband’s job for the U.S. military as well as her brother’s profession, would end up placing a target on their backs during the next Taliban invasion. 

August 15th, 2021

In early August of 2021, they celebrated their son’s 2nd birthday. 5 days later everything was different. 

She described to me the day the Taliban invaded. That morning she awoke to what seemed like a normal day. She was busy caring for her son, and was concerned with going to the market and buying milk. On her way to the market, she saw those around her running and thought “what is happening? Why is everybody running?” The answer: the Taliban is coming. “This happened in a second and no one was ready”, she shared. People started immediately closing their shops out of fear of what would happen. 

By that night, everything was different. “How did it change?? How did they take Kabul?” She remembers hearing the Taliban run through the streets at night, firing guns and yelling. As this happened, her husband was in another city for work and she wondered if he was okay. 

After the Invasion…

She stayed in her home with her son and parents after the invasion, knowing her husband was safe in another city. Her husband spent those next few days at the airport to not endanger his wife and son by being home with them, as he was a direct target for the Taliban. After a few days she received a call from her husband to meet him at the Kabul airport. 

When she left her home for the airport, she looked around and saw that everything was different. Farishta saw many people waiting in long lines outside the airport trying to find a way out of Afghanistan. “The situation was like a dream. It was like a horror movie.” When she left for the airport, she also had to leave behind her parents and siblings. “When I close my eyes, I see the crying faces of my father and mother, but they are happy for us because we are no longer in danger.” 

The Airport in Kabul 

Upon seeing her husband, he immediately embraced Farishta and their 2-year-old son. “When I looked at his face, I saw he was so scared.” Shortly after arriving at the airport, a bomb exploded in the Kabul airport attack. On August 26th 2021, a suicide bombing took place outside the Kabul airport that killed at least 183 people, among those being 13 U.S. military members and 170 Afghan civilians. Her husband looked at her and said “we need to go fast.” As she ran through the airport with her son and husband, she could still see the aftermath of such a terrible explosion, people crying, and complete chaos around her. She wondered if they would make it to safety. 

They loaded into a cargo plane with no seats and hundreds of other people. “It felt like a nightmare for me, a bad dream.” Upon boarding the plane, they did not know what country they would be going to. After several hours of traveling, they made it to Washington D.C, then to a military base in Indiana, where they lived for 2 months before coming to Texas. They have now been in the U.S. for almost a year. 

Life in North Texas

They arrived in North Texas on October 3rd, 2021 and were resettled by World Relief. They were very excited when they came to Texas, as they had the opportunity to start their new lives. Life has not always played out as they thought it would, but they are still hopeful. They are happy in America, and they are happy they have each other. 

Once resettled in North Texas, they developed a relationship with their caseworker, and love her deeply. Their caseworker came alongside them and assisted in helping them become sufficient on their own in a new place. They began making friends with neighbors and found a small community. “I know Allah has a plan for us.” 

Her husband now desires to work in the medical field in the U.S., just as he did in Afghanistan. He has currently passed a surgical exam, and is actively looking for jobs. Farishta desires, as any mother does, that her son has a good life in the U.S. As she reflects on having to flee Afghanistan as a child herself, she sees similarities in her son’s early life and her own. She desires that her son will never have to flee a country again, but can grow up in one place.

As they set up for a future in the U.S., she recognizes the good things she has. Farishta is thankful they did not lose any family members to the Taliban, and feels a burden to share her story to show the world what has happened, not only to her own family, but all those affected by the Taliban takeover. Her parents and siblings are still in Afghanistan, and she speaks with them regularly as she deeply misses them and worries for their safety. “At first, I cried every day, but now I am okay. Everything has changed for me here.”

Her story deserves to be told. 

Advocate for Afghans 

Her story is also a reminder of a call to action. Currently, we can advocate for Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act to allow Afghans, like Farishta and her family, to remain in the U.S. permanently. Entering the U.S. under the status of humanitarian parole was a temporary protection that does not grant immigration status. If you desire to advocate for our Afghan friends, many with stories just like Farishta’s, click HERE.

Learn how you can get involved with World Relief Chicagoland HERE.

Every day, people leave their homes due to persecution, violence, conflict, and climate-related factors. Their journeys to safety are often marked by loss, separation, and worry for those left behind. 

For ten years, Ibrahim was separated from his family. This is their story of enduring hope. It’s a beautiful example of one refugee family reunited after a long time apart.

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An Impossible Decision

Ibrahim was born and raised in the Darfur region of western Sudan. He worked a variety of jobs — housekeeping, construction, office administration — in order to provide for his family. There, he lived with his wife, three children, and a baby on the way.

While Ibrahim loved his home and community, conflict left him feeling uneasy. He was concerned for his family’s safety. 

Darfur’s ethnic disputes and limited resources have fueled a decades-long conflict. In 2003, a rebel group launched an insurrection in Darfur. The group protested what they considered to be the Sudanese government’s disregard for non-Arab ethnic groups in the region. In response, the government armed ethnically Arab militias to combat rebels in Darfur. 

Despite international attempts at peacebuilding and intervention, the conflict worsened. Militias threatened the lives and livelihoods of non-Arab civilians. They burned down thousands of villages, committed sexual violence, and blocked aid organizations from delivering much-needed food and medical supplies. 

In 2013, a renewed wave of violence gripped the region. In the face of this conflict, Ibrahim made the heart-wrenching decision to flee Sudan. He left behind his wife and children, in hopes of finding help and a longer-term solution for them all.

“There was too much killing, too much fighting,” Ibrahim told World Relief. “It was impossible to live.” 

Seeking Safety

Ibrahim arrived in Jordan hoping to find help. He registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), meticulously completing his paperwork. 

“I always wrote my kids’ names as my family on all the papers — all the dates of birth and everything,” Ibrahim said. His wife and children, still in Sudan, needed to be included in his case. His hope was that they would be resettled in a new country with him. 

Ibrahim found work, sent money home to his family, and waited. 

After two years, Ibrahim gained approval for resettlement in the U.S. He passed all required security and health screenings, but his family was still in Sudan. They were unable to travel with him and the family remained separated. 

With help from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ibrahim flew to the U.S. in 2016, where the World Relief Triad office welcomed him to North Carolina. 

Ibrahim remembers feeling like he had escaped death. 

“When I arrived, I was so grateful for World Relief because they helped me with everything,” Ibrahim said. “They helped me with a place to stay. They were able to find work for me, and they helped until I felt that I could do things for myself.” 

And yet, as Ibrahim rebuilt his life in the U.S., he never stopped thinking of his wife and children, still stuck in Sudan. They frequently spoke over the phone — and Ibrahim continued to hope. 

“I couldn’t really rest or enjoy all the blessings I had because I kept on thinking about them all the time,” Ibrahim said. “I never felt complete.”

Hoping and Waiting

Now in the U.S., Ibrahim continued working with IOM in the hopes of bringing his family to North Carolina. He was persistent, calling for updates whenever he could. 

With IOM’s help, he was eventually able to secure interviews for his wife at the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Still, the process crept forward slowly.

Then, in 2019, just when everything finally looked ready to move forward, Ibrahim encountered another obstacle — the president of the United States announced a new executive order banning Sudanese people from traveling to the U.S., Ibrahim’s family included. 

The officials said “Everything is correct, all the papers are the way they’re supposed to be. There’s just some rules that they’re not allowing people.” 

He began to doubt whether he would ever see his wife and children again. “I almost lost hope,” he said. 

But then, in 2021, he got a call. A new U.S. presidential administration had reversed the executive order. Over the phone, he heard the long-hoped-for words: “Your family is coming.” 

Ten years after Ibrahim had to leave his family behind in search of safety, after years of hoping and waiting, they would be reunited at last. 

Reunited 

In February 2022, Ibrahim gathered with staff and volunteers from World Relief Triad at the airport to welcome his wife and four children to North Carolina. 

“I broke down in tears because I hadn’t seen them in 10 years, and now they’re here, and it’s real,” Ibrahim said.

“The little one that I left was only three months; when he came, he was 10 years old. I cannot describe how I felt — I was at the point of thinking maybe I will never see them again.” 

Now, with his family finally together again, Ibrahim has new hopes.  

“My hopes are for my kids,” Ibrahim states. “For them to get the right education, for them to be able to be good people. I want them to make something for themselves and make me proud… for them to benefit themselves and our new country — the United States.” 

Remembering Those Left Behind

Even as Ibrahim and his family continue building their new life together in the U.S., he often remembers Darfur and the family, friends, and neighbors they had to leave behind.

“People are really suffering there. They don’t have food, they don’t have water, they live in very unsafe, unhealthy conditions,” he said. 

The UN estimates 2.5 million people are living in displacement camps across Darfur, and 6.2 million people will need humanitarian assistance in the region within the next year. The same factors — war, violence and persecution — that drove Ibrahim and his family to find safety are still impacting people in Sudan today. 

At World Relief, we recognize that addressing the drivers of mass displacement requires a multi-faceted and holistic response. In Sudan, World Relief is on the ground providing humanitarian assistance and investing in development and peacebuilding efforts to address the underlying factors contributing to conflict and displacement.

Together, We Can Respond

Building a just world means coming alongside families like Ibrahim’s once they’ve reached the U.S. and it means finding lasting solutions to the problems that force families to flee in the first place. 

For Ibrahim, his hope for safety and brighter futures for those still in Darfur endures — “I really would like for them to… have a better life for themselves and for their kids.” 

Together, we are taking action, hoping and praying for lasting solutions for displaced and separated families like Ibrahim’s both in the U.S. and in countries around the world. 

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World Relief Chicagoland relies on partners and volunteers like you to help build welcoming communities. Join us on the path to hope, transformation, and lasting change alongside refugees and immigrants like Ibrahim. 

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Kelly Hill serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. She previously served as Volunteer Services Manager at World Relief Triad in North Carolina before moving to Salt Lake City. With a background in International and Intercultural Communication, she is passionate about the power of story to connect people of diverse experiences. 

Abby Ray has been serving as the Communications & Advocacy Coordinator at World Relief’s Triad office since September 2021. She works to amplify the voices of clients, staff and community members by empowering them to share their own stories.