2019 DEDICATION

2019 DEDICATION TO ANA HUNA

By Rabia Ahmadi, Director of Family Services, Miry’s List

About a year ago, when my daughter was five, she asked me a question: “Why did we leave Afghanistan? We have no one here. Nothing here.”

I sat on the end of her bed as my four-yearold son listened from across the room. I started telling them the truth. “It wasn’t safe for us. There were explosions by our house. We were afraid. We were scared. We had to leave Afghanistan.” I kissed them goodnight.

The next morning, my daughter had more questions. “Will explosions hurt my grandparents? My aunts, my uncles?” She had been up all night thinking about this. “What about my classmates, my cousins? Did you think of them?”

An impossible question. A mother’s heartbreak.

I realized I made a mistake by telling her the truth. That truth is not for my children. That truth is for my friends. I remember thinking at that moment, I need to tell my friends. And I need my friends to help me figure out what truth to tell my children.

When I was still in Afghanistan, colleagues who had already come to the United States warned me: “Rabia, you won’t have any friends in the U.S. People won’t have time to listen to you.” I worried about leaving my relatives and being with just my two kids and husband. Loneliness is a form of death — a dying of the soul, not the body.

Before they arrive in the United States, every refugee has already spent many years living in fear. Most people remain in terrifying conditions — waiting and hoping things will get better — until their final surrender to the fact that they won’t. That’s when they apply for resettlement. And at that point it takes at least another five years for the U.S. to approve and process a resettlement application.

When we get here, there’s a lot to learn. For example, in Los Angeles where I live, if you don’t have a car, you can’t do anything. But in Afghanistan, women aren’t allowed to drive. So when I came here, I learned to drive. And then I helped two other women to learn how to drive. Now they can drive. They can take their kids to school and go grocery shopping.

For refugee women — wives and mothers — depression is so common. We are carrying so much, for ourselves and our families. I feel like the women in our program get better after talking to me a few times. This is very rewarding for me.

Everybody needs a friend. Everybody needs a person to share their pain. Especially refugees. They leave their parents, their relatives, everybody. They come here alone to the unknown. When they hear from somebody from their country, who speaks their own language, they feel relieved. We all need somebody who can sit and listen.

This is what I do for Miry’s List. I’m the Director of Family Services. I talk to the families. I encourage them to be strong. In Dari, we use the phrase Man inja hastam, which means “I’m here.” “You are not alone,” I say, “we are here for you.” Then I ask them what they need. I explain that they don’t have to pay for the packages that show up at their door from their Miry’s List wishlist. “It’s a gift from somebody who doesn’t know you. But they care about you. This is a way of welcoming you to your new home.”

As a child, one of my dreams was to grow up and be able to help my people. I am living that dream now, thanks to Miry’s List.

The Miry’s List community have become my people. This includes my own country’s people, Arabic, Persian, Iranian, other countries, and Americans. Even if I get another job someday, I will always be part of Miry’s List. This is my family. It is the family that welcomed me to America. It is the family I chose in America.

Family to family, friend to friend, we will figure out how to explain this world to our children. And we will all get better. Together.

Ana Huna. Man inja hastam. I’m Here.

And we’re not going anywhere.

CONTENTS

2019 DEDICATION………………..2 LETTER FROM MIRY...............7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…..…..8 MIRY’S LIST CULTURE...….....10 OUR MISSION……………………..12 WHY WE’RE HERE…………..…..13 OUR APPROACH………….……...15

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: THE HAMADA FAMILY…..……........16 OUR PROGRAMS…….….…..…20 IMPACT AT A GLANCE……….21 FUNDING AT A GLANCE……24 WELCOME, NEIGHBOR….....27

THE HEROIC ACT OF MIGRATION……………………….32 2019 EVENT HIGHLIGHTS…36

OUR PARTNERS…………….….45 OUR DONORS…………………..46 THE GREAT EQUALIZER/ RECIPE……………………………...55

Miry. Photograph by Christina Gandolfo