Afghanistan
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We first met Shola and her two children, Muneeb and Bilqees one month before the World Trade towers fell in 2001. Then on the eve of the US invasion of Afghanistan, we huddled together with Shola in a room full of refugees, praying for peace in her country and safety for the family she had left behind.

At the time, Shola didn’t know if her husband Ahmad was alive or dead. He had worked as a clerk in the former government, but disappeared shortly after the Taliban came to power. Shola was one month pregnant with Bilqees the last time she saw him. Ahmad had never seen his daughter, and was unaware that their middle son had died of Leukemia before Shola could get him to America for treatment. She sold everything she had, but it was not enough to get the care the little boy needed from the hospital in Pakistan where they were living as refugees.

Our earliest prayers for Shola were simply that Ahmad was alive and that God would keep him safe. It was a long time before we even dreamed of the possibility of him coming to America and being reunited with his family. Once Shola learned that her husband was alive, she applied for him to join her and wrote letters, called congress people, and talked to anyone who would listen.

On May 10, 2003 Shola’s prayers were finally answered. Bilqees met her father for the first time and Muneeb was reunited with the father he had lost. TRAF was able to pay for Ahmad’s airplane ticket, making Shola’s family our second reunification case.

Since being reunited Shola and Ahmad have purchased a house, given birth to two more children.