SATURDAY STORY, DECEMBER 18, 2021 - REFUGEES FROM AFGHANISTAN

 SATURDAY STORY, DECEMBER 18, 2021 - REFUGEES FROM AFGHANISTAN

On Saturday I write fiction, but all week I’ve written Christmas fiction.  

Today’s story is fiction based on truth.

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From KUT, Austin Public Radio:

Refugee Services of Texas expects nearly 200 Afghan refugees to be resettled in the Austin area by the end of next month.

The organization has already welcomed 35 people to Austin in the past few weeks, mostly Special Immigrant Visa holders and their families who are fleeing Afghanistan in the fallout of the U.S. military's withdrawal from the country.

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Farzana walked down the steps from the Air Force jet from Kabul Afghanistan to Austin Texas.  There were 48 Afghanistanis on the flight plus some US military personal and translators.  It had been an impossible long flight - about 34 hours.  She had tried to sleep, but after a while, even that was hard to do.  She had tried to walk around.

She had opted for the refugee program.  Her family had opposed the Taliban, and she had been a translator for the US military and the Afghanistan government.  Women in Afghanistan could find work as translators, but the role of women was very limited other than teachers, nurses, or translators.  Farzana knew the options - stay and be killed - or flee and maybe have a new life in a new location.  

She knew a little English from her school days but really had learned more as a translator.  The US forces put her and other translators through an intense five-week English training/translation program and on-the-job training had made her better.  Her English was passable.  

On the plane, there had been some additional training about the United States, Texas, and Austin.  Austin was generally considered a good place, but it would be hard to adapt.  America was largely two main groups - whites and Hispanics.  And, while not all people were Christians, Muslims were a minority and at times a hated minority.  Americans didn’t know the difference between Sunni and Shiite versions of Islam and had the miss information that all Muslims were Arabs.  

The American speaker on the plane, herself a Bangladeshi Muslim that had been in the United States for twenty years was candid about the difficulties of being accepted.  The aftermath of the 911 terrorist plan was that all Muslims were evil.  The speaker said they would find friends in America - especially with those that were open and accepting of all people.  Don’t argue with Americans about the war, don’t argue with them on most subjects.  Try to adapt as much as you can.  

The speaker wore a modified hijab - mostly white with pink flowers, and she suggested never to wear a black hijab as that seemed to suggest a strict interpretation of Islamic law.  She also suggested watching American television and movies to understand the culture.  She added carefully, “Don’t judge the people, and especially American women on the basis of dress, actions, and words.  Like you, culture has evolved over many years and fitting in is important to American girls.  In their culture wearing suggestive low-cut tops and short-shorts is very acceptable and in their eyes is not offensive to the prophet.”  

The speaker continued, “You can still keep your faith, but don’t flaunt it in front of others.  If you need to fudge your daily prayers so you are alone or with other Muslims, that might be better than openly praying in public or on a work site.”

Farzana understood.  She was alone. Her family had been killed by the Taliban, her husband had been in the army and was killed.  She had miscarried on their first child and had not gotten pregnant again.  There were three other Afghanistani single women and they would be sharing an apartment together for maybe a year.  The American Refugee Service was working on jobs for the immigrants.  But, it might take a while for all to find jobs.  It would be close to impossible to find jobs similar to the ones they left in Afghanistan.  They might have to take menial jobs - like cleaning ladies in hotels, or assembly line workers for a major computer company.  

They were free, they were alive, and even with the restrictions, their lives would probably be better than staying in Kabul.  

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Farzana was lucky.  She would be working with the new refugees as a translator.  Since she knew English and had a high school degree (which was still uncommon for women in Afghanistan) she would help with English lessons.  There were some families with children.  The children would go to American schools and would have English as a Second Language instruction.  Gradually, the students would be integrated into regular classes as their language skills grew.

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A bus was there to take the refugees to a housing center.  There was some chaos and Farzana got involved to help the Afghanistanis understand the English and to translate it back to the Refugee Service.  (Actually, she was happy for the work as it caused her to forget the angst and unrest in her own heart).  There were issues that she had to step in and solve.  One of the good-meaning Americans had brought ham and cheese sandwiches, and good Muslims didn’t eat ham or pork.  How do you say to the American volunteers that were a concern to the refugees?  

Farzana hated herself for a final decision as she spoke in Farsi to the refugees’ something akin to this, “The prophet would want you to be well and healthy. Well-meaning Americans don’t understand us. My guess is that the prophet would forgive this minor dietary sin this time.”  

They did drink the water and the coca-cola that was provided.  There were other snack foods like chips and cookies, that were familiar to the refugee’s tastes.  

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Farzana, Shandana, Moska, and Kaameh were taken to their apartment.  There were two bedrooms but each room had just one double bed, one bathroom, a living room with a sofa and television, and a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, microwave, and sink.  They had their suitcases which were all that they had been able to bring.  

The Refugee organization would gather them tomorrow morning at about 10:00 and bring them together in a school building.  They had asked Farzana to help with translation if needed.

The girls collapsed into bed.

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A bus picked up the four women as the first in the morning.  They wanted Farzana to be with them to translate as they picked up the other refugees

The Refugee Society was working with the Austin Independent School District.  The school-aged children would attend Anne Myers Elementary School.  The teacher would be Miriam Novak - Farzana would be the translation teacher.  Out of each day, the students would do standard lessons in English and Farsi.  Miriam would teach the lesson in English with no translation.  The students were to repeat the sentences to Miriam.  In the beginning, very few students could repeat the sentences. Slowly they were able to repeat - learning to form the English sounds.  

Moska had been a nurse’s aid.  St. Davids Healthcare system was taking her own - provided she could get a passing score on a TOEFL test (*Test of English as a Foreign Language)

Shandana had worked in childcare.  The Refugee Society had her working in a pre-school if her English skills passed.  Kaameh was slated to be a housekeeper for a hotel.

Most of the men were to work with delivery or warehousing.  Others had odd jobs in the community largely based on their skills.

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For the first two weeks, they met daily for five hours working on English.  Farzana took the TOEFL test on the second day and barely passed - but a pass is a pass!  She stayed with the group and her English skills improved.  

At the end of two weeks, most of the Afghan refugees reached a barely passing score.  Of the others, they were required to keep learning.  There was an offer from some of the other Muslim groups in Austin for work jobs, but most spoke Arabic and while the offer was good, the language difficulties would continue.

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End of today’s version.  Next week we will look at the difficulties of adjusting to a new country, new culture, new language, and dealing with hatred.

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LOVE WINS!!

Karen