I’m posting this here because there are a lot of you, and there is a chance that someone may know someone or work with someone who may be able to help. They do say that it’s who you know, not what you know.
I’ve sent this letter (along with a letter from the doctor) to the United Nations refugee place, and I’m going to be faxing it to various immigration and other refugee organizations and offices on Monday. I’m contacting several church based refugee services. I’m trying to find anyone who may have any connections or be able to tell me any other places I can try…
Here is the letter:
*"I am writing this letter on behalf of my friend Salma M., a US citizen living in the US for 11 years. While she speaks very good English, she didn’t feel that she could properly express herself in this letter, and so she told me what she wanted to say, and I am writing this letter for her.
Salma lives with her husband, her two children, and her mother in Centreville, VA, USA. Her sister and brother, Shakeeb and Deba (ages 20 and 22,) are still in Pakistan. She applied for an immigrant visa for them in 1995 and was told it could be 10 years before they could come over.
Salma’s mother, Soryeh, has lived in the US for a year and a half and misses her other two children greatly. She worries about them and cries often. Soryeh contracted Tuburculosis and was hospitalized for three months, during which time she had very little support, and received no aid from SSI. Salma’s husband works 10 hour days, 6 days a week to support the family, and Salma has two young children to care for. The family owns their own home. Salma is currently seeking work as well, which would leave her mother alone during the day. Soryeh doctor, Dr. John K., says that she needs family support and should not be alone. He also says that the stress of worrying about her children is not good for her condition. Soryeh needs her children with her. The Pakistani culture is very family oriented, and it is expected that when the parents health fails the children will take care of them. This separation goes against what she was raised to feel was the natural progression of her life. Because of her health, she cannot even visit them in Pakistan.
Soryeh lives in a constant state of worry about the safety of her children. When she still lived in Afghanistan, her sister and brother in law were shot and killed in their home by the Taliban, while their children hid in the house. She was the one to find her sister’s body. Other members of her family have met with violence, including a cousin who was murdered. She is always worried that her children will be raped or murdered like her own sister. She feels that they are not safe, and, with the situation in that region, they are in increasing jeopardy.
Currently the children are living in the city of Quita with a cousin. This cousin is a widow, her husband having been killed in the fighting. She is raising two children already; in addition, another cousin, the fifteen year old orphan of the sister who was mentioned above, lives with them. There are no adults to look after them; they have very little financial means.
Salma, her husband, and Soryeh want very badly for Shakeeb and Deba to immigrate to the US and live with them, where they can help take care of their mother, get jobs, and live without fear for their lives. This is a family that is broken by a great distance, and needs to be brought back together.
Katherine F., on behalf of Salma M."*
