Resilient, resourceful and ambitious is how to describe our client from Afghanistan. She is in her 20’s and was working in the medical field of maternity when the Taliban took over in 2021. They entered the hospital and told her to go home. She initially defied them but before long, the hospital administration said she could no longer work due to her safety as well as the safety of the hospital staff and patients.
Her immigration story begins at the airport in Kabul where she gathered with thousands in hopes of fleeing Taliban rule. She was at the airport entrance close to where a bomb exploded that killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the US military. She found herself on an army transport plane with blood stained clothes and stayed in those clothes for four days.
Her first stop was Qatar where undergarments and some clothes were offered but she was not given a clean dress so she remained in her blood stained clothes. Next stop was an army base in Germany and finally an army base in VA where she stayed in barracks along with hundreds of other Afghans. She said that they were treated well and that halal meals were served in the cafeteria.
From there she was assigned to a resettlement agency here in MA. Her social worker picked her up at the airport and brought her to a host home in Dorchester. Her host, a judge, was traveling, so his friends greeted her, brought her halal food to cook and she stayed in his home for 4 days until the judge returned.
Because she immigrated as a humanitarian parolee, she was eligible for work authorization and MassHealth benefits as well as a small stipend and SNAP benefits for a limited period of time. For this reason, the ISA was able to set her up in an apartment in Malden, providing donated furniture and household goods. We helped her navigate public transportation, local food banks, grocery stores and more.
One of our biggest concerns for M at the time was that her language skills did not match her immediate aspirations for employment. Although we encouraged her to find a lower skilled job, she would have none of it. Instead, on her own initiative she found a Certified Nursing Assistant training program at Chelsea Jewish Lifecare, earning a CNA certification, getting her learners permit, passing her driving test and purchasing a car. She worked full-time as a CNA at Jewish Lifecare for more than a year when she decided to take a position as a medical assistant at a Boston hospital. During all this time she has been studying toward her nursing degree through a Bunker Hill Community College program.
Immigrant Support Alliance
P.O. Box 761121
Melrose, MA 02176