In August I wrote a post about my friend Zan (not her real name) an Afghan educator and a women’s rights leader who had to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban raided her home in rural Afghanistan, while she was hiding in Kabul. She escaped by traveling overland from Kabul to Pakistan and then flew to Turkey. Her departure was sudden and costly so she had to leave her husband and 6 children behind.
After six months of anguish and uncertainty, yesterday, her husband and two children reunited with her in Ankara, Turkey. Without your generous support, this would have never happened.
Take joy Zan’s smile as she sits next to her youngest son (14-years-old) who she missed immensely. Often times when we spoke on WhatsApp, she explained that her heart ached for her children and that she would give anything to be reunited with them.
Unfortunately, I have to hide their faces in these photos because Zan’s three adult children are still in Pakistan waiting for a Turkish visa and her married daughter is still in Kabul. I don’t want to put them at risk.
While we fretted and worried about Zan’s husband and children’s safety, John Bortner, the Chair of the Board of Directors of Afghan Friends Network, and I worked together to push forward Zan’s family’s political asylum case which basically was not going anywhere until two dear friends at the State Department, who had met Zan while they worked in Afghanistan, stepped in to help us.
Now, Zan has an asylum case number and is in the USCIS system for a priority 2 visa to the United States. The asylum process will take anywhere from 16 months to 2 years. We hope that she will one day be able to move to the United States with her family.
Once again, thank you for your generous donations to our fundraising effort. We met our goal of $56,000 in two weeks and since used the funds to help Zan’s family pay for inflated visa processing fees and flight costs. I was heartened and moved by the show of support from the Afghan Friends Network community, friends, colleagues, and my meditation community.
Yes, their family has a long way to go before settling into a new home, but at least they will be together and at the end of the day, there is nothing more important than family.