By: Giovanni Ngai

In August 2021, BH escaped to the United States, but his family is still in Afghanistan. He desperately scrambled to board a plane at Kabul International Airport to escape from the Taliban. The Taliban is a group of people who rebel against the Afghan government and are slowly gaining power. That is what BH, who is a 17-year-old boy, is running away from. The reason behind this is that an uncle of BH worked for the Afghan and U.S. military, making BH and his family a big target. That is why BH escaped and is now living by himself at Goodwin House while getting help from Christ Church in Alexandria. “So imagining him here alone, without a family — the burden I believe was extra heavy.” Gray said (Tom Bowman, Lauren Hodges). Gary was the church director of outreach and mission and was shocked when BH told him the situation. Even BH himself expresses that he is in a stressful situation. BH recalled, “It was a dark day for me because I lost my whole family.”

When BH was escaping Afghanistan, “Everyone was pushing each other and they didn’t, you know, care about old people and children,” BH explained (Tom Bowman and Lauren Hodges). All they cared about was getting to the earliest departing flight out of Afghanistan. BH was doing the same, but he got separated from his family in the process. In the end, he escaped Afghanistan, but his parents unfortunately did not make it with him.

After boarding the plane, BH arrived in the West and was lost as soon as he got there. “Everybody in the camp had a relative in the U.S. and they said ‘Hey, come to California. It’s a good place.’ And I said ‘I don’t have any relatives here,’ ” BH recalls (Tom Bowman, Lauren Hodges). He does not have any relatives in America, as his whole family is still in Afghanistan. Then BH found out that Virginia has a good education system, so he went there. As soon as he got there, the government offered him three months of financial assistance. BH is lost as soon as he arrives in the U.S., just like anyone else would be if they went to a completely foreign country.

To escape from a small problem, getting lost in a maze is not so bad. However, escaping from a group of dangerous people and getting lost in a new country without a family is very different. BH’s experience is one many others have had too.

Resources: https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1690137839810x418677197240414200/An%20Afghan%20teen%20makes%20it%20to%20the%20U.S.%2C%20but%20his%20family%20is%20left%20behind%20in%20Kabul%20_%20NPR.pdf