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This is another super quick update….

Back in the USA!!!!

Roshan and Ghani and their families arrived at Dulles! Roshan and his family were moved to a base south of Richmond,VA and Ghani and his family are on a base near El Paso, TX. There is a bunch of process to go through for their family members, so it may be a week or two until that is finished.

We aren’t really sure what will happen from there, so we will wait for more news.

When Roshan and Isa left Kabul, they were allowed one small piece of luggage – by the time Ghani got out, they were allowed the clothes on their backs only – they had to leave backpacks and bags behind. So Ghani has been in the same clothes for several days. He is looking forward to changing his clothes!

Our friend Mujda was on her way to the border and an evacuation flight, but there seems to be some snag. We are very hopeful that she will be out of Afghanistan and safe soon.

Hedayat’s family and Arif’s family are still in Kabul and we are hoping to find ways to get them out.

Arif’s friends – the young couple with the baby are out! They were in Qatar the last we heard. We are so relieved for them and looking forward to seeing them here in Allentown soon.

Isa and Sima and family arrived in Spain. We are not sure how long they will be there.

We are already learning about people who are arriving locally and will need help in the coming weeks and we are happy to do whatever we can. The boys are volunteering to translate and we will just do whatever we can do to help people who arrive.

And we are committed to continuing to pursue every possible way of getting the families of our loved ones out of Afghanistan and to safety. There are so many who have been left behind and we are working to try to get them to safety.

We haven’t been able to locate volunteers to help with completing SIV and humanitarian parole applications. If you can follow directions, use a computer, and type, and have an hour or two, we would love to enlist you to help one of our friends and family.

If you are looking for ways to help – HIAS is handling the influx of people to Philadelphia and accepting both financial and in-kind donations. Resettlement agencies are looking for people who are willing to help as foster parents for minors and support for families and adults who are arriving. Volunteers for just about everything are welcome.

The resettlement agencies have been so downsized in the past few years – they are doing the best they can, but ramping up to meet this kind of influx would be challenging in the best of times. And since their capacity has been so diminished, it is going to take a lot of volunteers to respond to this situation.

I can tell you from personal experience – there is no good time, and you are never really ready, but opening your home and heart to people in need brings so much joy and expands your life in ways that are hard to describe. Being a parent is hard, and there are times when you may wonder if you are cut out for it. It is the same with being a foster parent. And just as the joys of being a parent end up being so much more than the worries, so it is with foster parenting.

In whatever way you can contribute, I urge you to do so.

When it is all said and done, we don’t regret the things we did, we regret the things we didn’t do.

And I won’t harass you any more – but did feel that I had to make an impassioned plea. People say to Nolan and me that we are so special – but we are not really special. We had great parents and families who loved us and gave us everything they could, and we want to continue that tradition. Loving people is loving people. Our families are by blood and by gift, and if we are lucky, many times both.