AFGHANISTAN

My Story Is A Country

By Anonymous

I like to cook Afghan food. I have a good friend in Lacey. I like Afghan music. I like Lacey. I like sleeping. I like water. I like eating. I like water games.

The Reasons I Came To The United States

By Mariam Ahmadi

My name is Mariam. I came to the United States 17 months ago. I came to the United States because the Taliban came to my country. The Taliban are bad people. They wanted to kill my family because my brother worked with the American people and the Taliban didn’t want Afghans to work with the Americans. My family left our home country because we wanted to save ourselves. We came to the United States to be safe and start a new life here.

Things I Miss About My Country

By Marwa Ahmadi

My name is Marwa. I came to the United States 17 months ago. I like living in the United States, but I miss some things about my country. One thing that I miss about my country is my home. I liked my house because it was close to my uncle’s house. That made it very easy for us to visit family. I enjoyed a happy life in my house and am still getting used to the differences in American houses. Another thing that I miss about my country is my friends. I miss going to the lakes and mountains near my house with them. I also miss my college. I was studying dentistry before we had to leave. I hope to be able to study dentistry in the United States. I really enjoy living in the United States, but I hope to be able to visit my country soon so I can visit my grandma, other family, and my friends.

9000 Miles To The United States

By Tamim Ahma d Ahmadi

The place that was always fight, suicide attack, kidnapping, robbing, and killing.

The place that was taking breath and be alive not live.

The place that was always in blood and always was in destroying.

The place that you are always thinking will you be alive today or not.

I was born and raised in this place.

I am from Afghanistan. I had two jobs there, one as president of a youth non-profit organization and second as vice president of the Tamim Ahmadi Ltd Logistic Company. I was an active reporter for the nonprofit profit organization, and I was supporting and helping human rights. When the Taliban came into Kabul Afghanistan I was totally scared. I lost everything. I was a target of the Taliban because of my jobs and I also had a relationship with the U.S Army.

I left with my 57 year old dad, my wife who had a recent surgery, and 2 kids who were 2 years and 5 months old. We made a trip of 9000 miles to come to the United States and passed through 13 countries: Iran, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and México. We walked, took cars and passed through the scary ocean.

I paid people to guide and show me the way. Going with them was not safe. They don t care much about the people with them. They just care about money and their life. Our life wasn t worth anything to them. Between everything, the travel was really bad. The worst part was going through the jungle in Panama. We stayed there for three days and nights. We walked from 6:00 AM in the morning till 6:00 PM and saw dead bodies. We heard scary animal voices that we kept remembering and coming back to our ears. One night in the jungle, we were by our selves. We were out of food and water, and my son was really hungry. He was crying and telling me Dad, I want something to eat.” I had only a piece of chocolate in my pocket and I gave it to him. With the sound of the scary animals in jungle and cold weather, everyone felt like giving up on life and we slept on top of rocks. Finally I got to the United States and I saw my Mom and the rest of my family. I cried and was happy that we came here alive along with every danger and other things. Thanks to the people that helped me a lot with everything. I want to say their names: Kate and Will Frisen, John and Mary Beth Jantzen, Jannifar, Bev Lord, Karen Farber, Linda, and the people of United States. Now I m feeling safe and close to these people and my family.

I Miss Afghanistan

By Feerozan Barat

I miss a famous Afghani dish called kabab. Afghanistan is an ancient country with a good climate. I am an immigrant but there are challenges in Afghanistan. It has many fruits, seas, and mountains. I always say to myself that people of Afghanistan are very weak economically. I wish I could help my people.

Eid Ul Fi Tr

By Shella Farooqi

Eid Fitr, is a popular holiday for Muslim people. When Ramadan ends, Muslim people celebrated Eid for three days.

On the first day after Eid prayer, relatives and friends come to each other's house to greet and see each other up close, and eat different cookies, cake, dry fruit with green tea. They make all these foods either bought from the market or prepared at home, and before Eid people buy new clothes for themselves and wear it on Eid days.

Eid is a great joy for Muslim, and we are grateful to Allah.