Afghan SIV Family Resettles in Virginia with Peace Corps Community Support
This is a story of a refugee family fleeing for their lives, the power of the Peace Corps Community, and a plea for your support, all of which came together at a Northern Virginia (NOVA) RPCV potluck.
In August 2024, the NOVA RPCV group hosted a potluck and a presentation by Peace Corps Community for Refugees (PCC4Refugees) on how RPCVs could support refugees and immigrants in the area. During this and the subsequent fall potluck, NOVA RPCV Ed Miltenberger shared that he was forming a Welcome Corps group to help refugees resettle in the northern Virginia area and was recruiting more members. This team – made up of RPCVs (some current or former federal employees) and friends – became official in late fall and committed to supporting its first family of refugees from Sudan. When the new administration took office and the Welcome Corps was suspended, their assigned family was stranded in a refugee camp in Uganda. Tens of thousands of refugees from all over the world were prevented from accessing protection in our country. The suspension of the US Refugee Resettlement Program continues to this day.
After some searching, the dedicated team regrouped under the NGO Community Sponsorship Hub and was eventually matched with an Afghan family of five that arrived in April under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, recognizing their support to the United States government during our engagement in Afghanistan. The arrival day was exciting for both the family and the sponsorship team! Starting that day, constant communications between all of them and daily visits with the family moved the paperwork along and gave them a chance to explore their new country. But with the loss of all refugee resettlement funding, the reality of finding an affordable community in which to settle set in. The family made the important decision to relocate from the DC area to Richmond, Virginia, where they had a family support network.
While that relocation meant the end of their official sponsorship of the family, the NOVA team is determined to help them integrate, thrive, and give back to their new community. With just one email to Richmond RPCVs, they formed an alliance with volunteers experienced in refugee resettlement. Richmond RPCVs offered to step in with occasional on-the-ground support, while the NOVA team continues to assist the family remotely through phone, email, text, and WhatsApp.
The family remains positive and hard-working through this period of considerable stress and change. They are doing well, but their life here is not without its challenges. Benefits are slow to arrive and/or delayed by required paperwork and resettlement training programs. The teams are prioritizing their food and shelter while also moving them towards employment and education, which are crucial to achieving self-sufficiency.
The teams love this family and want them to succeed and thrive, but they also need your help. With the loss of federal support, they must raise funds to cover rent, food, utilities, and more until the family is established and earning their own income.
Here is their story, as written by the 18-year-old son (with some minor edits by his father).
Our life story:
All our family members were born in war-torn Afghanistan, into a family that deeply valued education. The parents as prospective parents always dreamed of a brighter future for our children, the mother, passionate about the children learning, enrolled them in a private school in Kabul (capital of Afghanistan) Each day, a school bus would come to our home and take them to school — children were so happy, filled with the innocence of childhood and the warmth of a peaceful family life. We lived in a cozy cottage, where love and laughter surrounded us.
But time had other plans. we began preparing for a journey abroad. At first, the children thought it was just a short trip — maybe a picnic, a little excursion, a momentary escape. But behind those hopeful smiles was a painful truth: we were fleeing for our lives. The head of our family, the father, who had faithfully served alongside the U.S.-led military forces, received a chilling death threat from insurgents (Taliban). The danger was real, and our lives were no longer safe. However, we along with all family members fled our beloved country with hurry and reached to asylum country in neighboring India.
Our three children completed their high school education at a government school, with dreams of going to university in refuge country. But the tuition fees were impossibly high. they were forced to put aside their dreams of higher education to support their family, they pushed to work — every penny they earned was a step toward survival. Life as a refugee was incredibly hard. We endured unbearable heat, crushing poverty, and the deep sorrow of being excluded from both education and basic human rights. Our family struggled daily with unemployment and the meager pay of hard labor.
In the midst of all this hardship, father (wartime ally) applied for the U.S. Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program . The process was agonizingly slow, tangled in bureaucracy and years of waiting. But finally, a miracle happened — We received US visa. That moment felt like a storm had passed. It brought light back into our lives. Our hopes were reborn after 12 years.
Thanks to tireless humanitarian efforts and the unwavering support of an incredible team of American volunteers — true angels — we safely arrived in the United States, the land of opportunity. Without these wonderful volunteers, our journey would never have been possible, especially since many support services for SIV holders had been suspended.
Today, we family members filled with joy and gratitude. In America, I no longer feel alone, forgotten, or marginalized. With the help of compassionate Team, our family is starting a new life filled with hope. We truly believe that our dreams of higher education and meaningful work will soon come true. For the first time in a long time, we feel Freedom. we feel that we belong. We know that here, we are entitled to all the civil and humanitarian rights that we were once denied. And we are determined to give back — to serve this great country and its noble people with the same faith and loyalty our father once showed alongside US-Led mission in Afghanistan.
Still, our heart aches for our elder brother, who was left behind because he was over 21 and ineligible for the visa. The separation is painful. We miss him every single day, and we carry a deep worry for his safety.
We are deeply grateful to this exceptional team of volunteers for their life-saving efforts. We will never forget their tireless dedication and remarkable kindness.
May God bless the great people of America.
With hope,
Afghan family
Many thanks to the many RPCVs and friends – including the NPCA affiliate group Friends of Afghanistan – who have supported the family with their donations and other support. The team is still far short of the funds needed to support the family through these critical first three months.
Please visit this GoFundMe page for a redacted photo of the family (they still fear for their and their family members’ safety) and to make a donation of any amount. Please share this story with your friends and family members and on your social networks. Thank you!
