They escaped their homeland during the American evacuation and Taliban takeover in late August and are among the 2,000 evacuees resettling in Massachusetts.
The cinder block cellar of an old Episcopal church in Newburyport is alive these days with the sounds of children playing, teens chatting and families coming together over meals. They're full of excitement and hope.
Malija, 12, Sanjar, 5, and Hadya, 10, play with a smartphone in their living quarters in the basement of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Newburyport. At the other end of the hall is a living room with couches and coffee tables. And around the corner, a makeshift dining room. It has a glass-doored fridge like the kind found in a convenience store. It's well-stocked with vegetables, yogurt, eggs, halal meat, and some cupcakes.
Rev. Jarred Mercer holds a phone as Sami speaks with an interpreter on the other end of the line so they can communicate. He originally offered the St. Paul's basement to the resettlement agency International Institute of New England to temporarily house Afghan evacuees, but has ended up doing more than just providing housing.
The volunteers are helping other Afghan evacuees locally, as well. In Newburyport alone, there are 40 Afghan citizens who fled their country following the Taliban takeover — the 19 living at St. Paul's and three families supported by other local churches, according to Mercer. Benafsha's mother says her eight children's lives would be much different if they had remained in Afghanistan — especially the girls'.
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