Afghan refugees find hope for a new life in Fort Wayne

Original story: https://www.wpta21.com/2022/02/24/afghan-refugees-find-hope-new-life-fort-wayne/

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - Doctor Halime Ahmadi knew when the Taliban started to take over in Afghanistan, her family would have to leave. “They don’t let work and education for women. I cannot, in Afghanistan, continue my job and continue my education,” she tells us from the Catholic Charities office in Fort Wayne.

Catholic Charities is helping 114 people adjust to life in Fort Wayne through its Afghan Refugee Program. Ahmadi, her husband, and their four children are grateful for the assistance.

“Could you have made this transition without the help of catholic charities?” ABC21′s Tom Powell asks Ahmadi. She says the charity has given her family a tremendous amount of help with everything from job placement for her husband to school enrollment for her children.

“What is your life like now?” Powell asks.

“It’s good,” Ahmadi says. “My children go to school. My husband goes to work. We have a good house.”

Ahmadi first arrived in the United States at Camp Atterbury, where she and more than 7,000 others received help from the National Guard.

She is heartbroken about what’s happened to the country she leaves behind and is fearful for women in particular who won’t be allowed to seek out an education or a career. “I had a job and I really loved my job. My life was really good,” she says. Ahmadi misses treating patients. She plans to continue her education and go back to practicing medicine once her youngest children get a little bit older.

She says it would be impossible for her to return to Afghanistan now, but she is hopeful that the circumstances will change in the future.