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New ‘Afghans of Philadelphia’ seeks to forge a vibrant community as hundreds of evacuees resettle here

The group, led by five Afghan American women, seeks to help new arrivals as the size of the local community is set to double

Sharifa Halimi of Philadelphia checks the size of donated winter boots at Imam Ali Masjid mosque in Pennsauken, N.J. last month. She helps lead a new Afghan-American organization that's working to help the Afghan evacuees now living on U.S. military bases.
Sharifa Halimi of Philadelphia checks the size of donated winter boots at Imam Ali Masjid mosque in Pennsauken, N.J. last month. She helps lead a new Afghan-American organization that's working to help the Afghan evacuees now living on U.S. military bases.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia doesn’t have much of an Afghan population.

But it’s about to get one, fueled by the local resettlement of hundreds of evacuees from among the 50,000 now living on U.S. military bases.

The leaders of a new group, Afghans of Philadelphia (AOP), say they’re prepared — to help and to lead and, most of all, to seize this moment of change to forge a cohesive, vibrant and involved Afghan community.

Already they’ve jumped in to assist, translating for Afghans arriving at Philadelphia International Airport — more than 28,000 people and counting — and collecting winter gear for the 11,000 evacuees housed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in South Jersey.

“It’s Philly’s time,” said group vice president Selli Abdali, 28, of Cherry Hill. “I want AOP to be the go-to resource if you’re looking for anything Afghan.”

The all-volunteer AOP is organized and led by five Afghan American women, all highly educated, all achieving, all immigrants or the children of immigrants, none willing to stand silent when times call for strong voices.

Abdali is a medical student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, her parents driven from Afghanistan by war in 1989. AOP president Sharifa Halimi, 27, of Northeast Philadelphia, is earning a master’s degree in mental health and counseling at the University of Pennsylvania. Her father fought the Russians during the 1979 invasion, then raised 14 children by running a coffee cart in New York City.

Health-care chair Rona Farighi, 30, of Bensalem, is a pharmacist by training and works in drug safety for Genentech Inc., a biotechnology firm that develops medicines. Tahmina Achekzai, the outreach chair, studies advanced MRI technology at Penn medical school, having earned a bachelor’s degree in physics in 2017.

AOP director Farwa Ahmadi, 30, holds a master’s degree in education and works as a case manager at Nationalities Service Center, the immigrant-aid group in Philadelphia that leads the region’s resettlement effort. Her family arrived as refugees in 2000 — and a year later endured the terrible prejudice that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Ahmadi said her father was harassed at work, and her mother stopped wearing a hijab as hate crimes surged against Muslims. Ahmadi’s grade-school classmates called her a terrorist.

“The climate now is so different,” she said, noting the public support for Afghan evacuees, most of whom were allies in the American war effort or related to someone who served. “We want to make sure they don’t go through what we went through.”

The idea for AOP took root more than a year ago, driven by the desire to establish a solid cultural presence, and by the realization that, unlike many other immigrant groups, ethnicities, and people of color, local Afghans had no overarching advocacy organization. Nothing like Asian Americans United, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, VietLead, or Africom.

The pandemic initially stalled AOP’s plans. Then came the sudden fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, and the chaotic air evacuation of 120,000 people from Kabul in August.

AOP quickly organized a City Hall rally where more than a hundred people gathered to support human rights and demand that the U.S. evacuate everyone it could. The flag of Afghanistan flew as demonstrators marched to the Art Museum steps.

As thousands of evacuees began arriving at the airport from first-stop centers overseas, leaders of AOP were there to greet them, helping to translate questions and instructions, offering assurance and a friendly welcome. They stood as living examples of the possible, proof that full, successful lives can be built in the United States.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst houses the largest Afghan population among the seven military installations designated as “safe havens.” About 40% of those living there are children under 14.

AOP has worked to help the newcomers, visiting the base and last month taking part in a collection drive that delivered blankets, jackets, sweaters and boots to the Imam Ali Masjid in Pennsauken, from where the goods were transferred to the military base.

“Twenty years ago we were in the same places as these families,” Ahmadi said. “I see myself in those children.”

As families at the bases are resettled in communities across the nation, they’ll join a U.S. population of about 156,000 Afghans, census figures show. Most are immigrants, and relatively new to the country, with 132,000 arriving in 2010 or later, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington.

About 700 Afghans live in Philadelphia, concentrated in the Northeast neighborhoods of Mayfair and Oxford Circle, with others in South Philadelphia. That population is poised to more than double, with at least 740 people scheduled to be resettled in the city.

“It’s going to take them years to adjust,” said Farighi.

The Afghans who are now being resettled have different experiences and skills. Some speak excellent English, having served as translators for U.S. forces. Some barely know a word, a big barrier to employment. Some hold multiple college degrees and others never left their village before coming to the United States.

Many newcomers will need help understanding the everyday basics of life in Philadelphia, such as the workings of trash collection, and what to do if there’s trouble. No one in Afghanistan dials 911 for the police.

And many people are deeply traumatized, having lost everything in an instant — homes, jobs, belongings, friends. Most left behind family members, some of whom could be in danger of Taliban reprisals.

“A lot of Afghans who are coming now don’t even understand their level of trauma,” Halimi said. “They’re still in a state of shock.”

Others will need help navigating everyday challenges that range from deciphering utility bills to learning to drive. As it grows, AOP intends to assist with all of it.

“I don’t feel like I have to do this. It’s more I want to do this,” said Ahmadi. “My father always made sure we knew where we came from.”

People who want to join or help AOP can contact the group at email aopxsola@gmail.com or on Instagram at @aopxsola.