Editor’s note: The refugees in this story were all given pseudonyms to protect their identities.
The first Afghan refugees to resettle in San Luis Obispo County since the U.S. war in Afghanistan ended described their past year as both a nightmare and a dream.
The nightmare was last summer. Between August and September 2021, the family of six, including a 2-year-old, traveled each day to the Kabul International Airport hoping to catch a flight out of the country.
They slept on the ground outside, waiting among crowds by the airport. They hid from the Taliban, who’d taken the capital city amid the U.S. withdrawal and threatened to kill those who’d worked with Americans.
For weeks, the family couldn’t escape. Finally, in late September, they were allowed onto a U.S. evacuation flight, with no idea where it was headed.
John, one of the refugees, who worked as a translator for the U.S. government in Kabul, told New Times that he remembers clearly the emotions of that moment.
“In one way, it’s happiness,” he said. “I was hiding when the Taliban took power, so it’s kind of a relief because now you can sleep without fear. But apart from that, when you have lots of memories from that place, when you’re born and raised there and you have your friend circles, your relatives, and you’re leaving them, it’s not easy.
“But to be honest,” he added with a shrug, “we didn’t even think. It was just, get away from here.”
More nightmarish months would follow, but the dream part of the past year for this Afghan family is what’s happening now.
The six relatives, who span three generations—John; his wife, Maria; their young daughter; and Maria’s sister, Ava, and her parents, Daniel and Emma—arrived safely in the city of San Luis Obispo about two months ago.
They join the roughly 70,000 Afghan refugees currently resettling across America. Most either assisted the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, like John, or had a status back home that puts them in danger with the Taliban.
While the family told New Times that they know the road ahead won’t be easy, they feel they have a good head start thanks to the support of a local nonprofit, SLO4Home, which is providing financial and logistical resources to them.
A long road to SLO
Ava remembers the shock she felt watching her city of Kabul fall to the Taliban.
The 22-year-old was a university student when the regime change swept her and her classmates’ futures up with it. Female students were immediately forced to unenroll from college, she said. Such a quick takeover of a city with more than 4 million people took everybody by surprise.
“Nobody believed Kabul would [fall] like that,” Ava said. “We woke up one day and everyone was saying, ‘The Taliban took over Kabul!’ We had a balcony back at home and I saw people running and it was like what happened? The gunfire and shooting and everything. … I cried a lot that night. I was so scared.”
More than a month later, that evacuation flight took her family to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where thousands of other Afghan evacuees were stationed.
Thinking they’d spend a few weeks there before being relocated to the U.S., the family’s time in the UAE lasted eight months. John said they were allowed to leave the confines of their shelter area just once.
“We went to a shopping mall, walked around, and came back,” John said.
Despite the isolation and frustration over the delay, John said they were grateful. The UAE provided food, medical care, and everyday items, like diapers, free of charge to help them get through the stay.
Eventually, U.S. officials told the family that they would be relocated to Virginia for a few weeks of paperwork, before reaching their final resettlement destination.
Unbeknownst to the family, SLO4Home in SLO County was already coordinating with national refugee organization Church World Service to take them in as inaugural refugees to the area.
‘A peaceful life’
Seated side by side in a semicircle around their new living room, the family gathered on July 14 in a neatly furnished apartment that’s warmly decorated with colorful abstract art.
Ever since the family arrived, leaders at the SLO4Home nonprofit have been in close contact with the refugees, helping them get housed, settled in, and adjusted.
Right now, SLO4Home assists the family with rent, transportation, food, cultural barriers, bureaucratic red tape, and more. But the support is meant to be temporary.
“Initially, we’re providing virtually all of the support,” said Lauren Brown, a member of the SLO4Home board of directors. “But as they start getting employment and earning funds, we’ll be able to taper off our support, and the hope is that by nine to 12 months, they’re on their own.”
The organization, formed last year to serve this very purpose, has ambitions to help resettle between eight and 10 Afghan families over the next two years.
Their work has drawn an outpouring of community support, including more than 150 volunteers and a base of donors that includes Rick Stollmeyer, the co-founder of MindBody, who recently pledged a $300,000 matching donation.
But refugee assistance is expensive—each family costs about $60,000 to $80,000 to resettle, Brown said—so more help is needed.
“Eventually we’d like to expand it to include Ukrainian families,” he added.
The newly arrived family told New Times that they’re enjoying the peaceful small-town vibe of SLO and have appreciated the community’s help thus far. John and Maria’s daughter enjoys going to the park, the younger adults are looking for jobs, and the grandparents are still in disbelief over their circumstances.
“It is a dream of my dad’s for us to be here. This was his dream,” said Ava, translating for her Dari-speaking father in their living room. “Right now, he’s very happy to be here with us and to live a peaceful life here.”
Despite their good fortune, like for so many Afghan refugees, danger and uncertainty still lurk. John’s most concerned about his parents and relatives who are still in Afghanistan. He’s terrified that the Taliban might somehow link them to him, and he hopes they can join him in the U.S. soon.
“Every night, I’m always worried. Some nights I see nightmares of what will happen to my family,” he said.
He’s also aware that the family’s visa expires in two years, leaving their futures in doubt.
“After that, what will happen? Will the U.S. government let us stay here?” he wondered. “If SLO4Home pays for one year, what will happen after one year?
“We’re here, and happy, and alive, but it’s still not easy.” Δ
Assistant Editor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 14-24, 2022.