NO SAFE PLACE : Launched July 5, 2016 : Sacramento has become a major destination for Afghan refugees who translated for U.S. troops or otherwise served in the war effort. But California hasn't provided the better life they expected. Marked for death by the Taliban at home, they've endured poverty and violence in Sacramento. For Rest of the Story go to: http://www.zreportage.com/zReportage.html?num=zrep604
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August 6, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Afghan refugees FAISAL SEDIQI, 24, left, and PAIWASTOON HUSSAIN KHAIL, 22, center, who both worked for U.S. armed forces, were witnesses to Faisal Razmal being shot. With few resources available to them, the refugees struggle to find jobs. They had gathered in the parking lot with Razmal to hear about job openings at the Citrus Heights shopping center where he worked.
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August 6, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - FAISAL RAZMAL, 28, served alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan as an interpreter, facing death before coming here for a better life. 'It was my dream to be in a safe place,' he said. '... But what happened here is more than everything I faced in Afghanistan.' On Aug. 2, 2015, he returned to his home at the Skyview Villa Apartments from his job as a security guard. He and fellow Afghans were accosted by teens. One fired a flare gun, leaving Razmal blind in one eye and with a different view of his new life.
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August 6, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Dr. FAHIM PIRZADA, right, visits FAISAL RAZMAL, 28, left, who was shot in the eye with a flare gun on Aug. 2, 2015 after being accosted by a group of teens outside the Skyview Villa Apartments. He had gathered some former interpreters to tell them about job openings. A group of teens approached the Afghans. One of them, a 16-year-old named Renardo Dejour Williams, allegedly demanded cash and cell phones from Razmal and his fellow Afghans. Police say Williams was a member of the violent Trigga Mob gang. Razmal, a teddy bear of a guy with a slight paunch, tried the diplomatic skills he had used in the Afghan conflict. 'I said, Why do you do this? Put down your pistol, we'll talk,' he recalled. They left, then came back a few minutes later. It was then, police said, that Williams shot Razmal in the face. He said he was afraid to return from UC Davis Medical Center to the apartment complex where he and about 50 other Afghans and their families now call home. Razmal and other Afghan refugees have come to Sacramento with Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) granted because of serious threats from the Taliban due of their service alongside U.S. and NATO forces. More than 2000 Afghans with such visas have resettled in Sacramento County since October 2010, the highest number of any county in the state. They are among 7,000 Afghan refugees who now live in the Sacramento area.
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August 6, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - MARYAM RAFI, 13, says her evening prayers as her mother MALALAI RAFI, 36, continues to mourn nearly a month after the July 12, 2015 death of her husband, Mustafa Rafi, 35. Malalai became her family's only provider and decision-maker, a role she feels ill-equipped to handle because she has little education or knowledge of English, and comes from a culture where women are subservient.
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September 1, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - UC Davis physical therapist HEATHER MARTINE places Omar's protective helmet on his head to prepare him for an occupational therapy session at UC Davis Children's Hospital. As a result of his brain injury, Omar's behavior swung wildly. Sometimes he would be gentle and caring. Other times, he would bite, spit or hit the doctors and nurses.
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September 1, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Although it's been difficult, OMAR RAFI, 8, progresses in physical therapy at UC Davis Children's Hospital. Therapists used a football, games and puzzles to help him work on his motor skills. Formerly a good student, he studied English on an iPad.
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September 1, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - OMAR RAFI, 8, has brain damage from the accident, but the doctors are not able to determine to what extent. As he recovers, at UC Davis Children's Hospital, he can talk and be extremely polite and other times he becomes frustrated and acts aggressively toward the staff.
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September 13, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - A security fence bordering the Skyview Villa Apartments can be seen from the window by Bib Maryam on a folding metal chair. The complex is commonly referred to as a 'compound' by the residents. Since Faisal Razmal's injury, the family has struggled to pay bills.
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September 22, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - ABDUL FARHAD GHAFOORI, 25, shows one of several bugs he photographed in their apartment with his wife BADRIA, daughter KAYINAT, 4, and son AHMAD FARZAD, 2. 'We ran away from the Taliban,' Badria said, 'and now we have to fight cockroaches.' Ahmad Farzad has been taking antibiotics and applying cream to help relieve the itching from bug bites. The entire family suffers from the onslaught of various insects. Ghafoori got the landlord to spray the apartment, but it stunk so bad from pesticides they slept in another Afghan's home. The spray helped stave off the attacks, but his kids were still badly bitten. 'I still feel like something's crawling around in my pants or up my body,' he said. 'I still can see cockroaches and bed bugs walking around and I have trouble sleeping at night.
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September 27, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - SALEHA, 12, who shares a bedroom with her three siblings, reaches under her covers to display a photograph of her deceased father MUSTAFA RAFI, at Skyview Villa Sun. Her brother Omar, 9, has been at UC Davis Children's Hospital since July 12, suffering from a head injury. 'He doesn't know he's in the hospital, we tell him one day and the next day he forgets,' she said.
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September 29, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Using his American flag-covered mobile phone as a mirror, FAISAL RAZMAL wipes fluid from his injured eye. Dr. Nathaniel Gebhard, a resident at UC Davis Medical Center, examined Razmal's eye, and told him he wouldn't lose the eye, but his eyesight would not return. Afterward, Razmal said he worries because he doesn't have enough money and that he isn't getting the best treatment for his eye. 'I think to myself, how this is the United States, it's a powerful country,' Razmal said. 'They do a lot of things but they can't fix my eye.
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October 4, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - BASIRA HAIDARI doesn't feel safe in her apartment after vandals broke her window and her next-door neighbor Faisal Razmal was shot and blinded by a flare gun. She has complained about bug bites and cockroaches. Her husband, MOHAMMAD AMID HAIDARI, 25, right, said they have relied on help from a family friend in the absence of assistance from the resettlement agency. Despite their hardships, Basira Haidari said, 'I'm happy to live here (in the U.S.), because every day was war (in Afghanistan).'
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October 5, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - BASIRA HAIDARI, 22, works on an English lesson with her daughter RAHEEL, 18-month-old, at Dyer Kelly elementary school. Haidari longs to continue her schooling, but said she can't afford day care. 'I'm livid about it,' she said.
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October 7, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - ABDUL FARHAD GHAFOORI, 25, works on his application for an IT job in his bedroom that he shares with his wife BADRIA, daughter KAYINAT, 4, and son AHMAD FARZAD, 2. The closet has no door and the bed has been treated for bed bugs. An Afghan refugee recommended him to fill out the application online. The only help IRC offered when he arrived was for him to research jobs on craigslist on his computer. After two months unemployed IRC had scheduled him for an Oct. 19th job training although he has been in the US since Aug. 3rd. Concerned over his future he said, 'I was hoping to get an education and have a good life here. Become a doctor.'
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October 7, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - As ABDUL FARHAD GHAFOORI says his prayers, his daughter, KAYINAT, 4, watches American cartoons on his cellphone. Without toys available, he handed her the phone to calm her after her mother left for ESL class. Finding affordable day care is a struggle for the refugees, whose wives are required to take ESL classes.
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October 13, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - OMAR RAFI is released from UC Davis Children's Hospital. HIs mother, MALALAI RAFI, who speaks little English, tries to communicate with hospital staff regarding her son. Omar had undergone several surgeries over the past three months. The hospital staff recorded his mother's voice in Farsi so he could hear her while she was away.
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October 14, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - OMAR RAFI, 9, right, greets his sisters SALEHA, 12, center, and MARYAM, 13, left, with hugs and kisses as they return home from school the day of his release from UC Davis Children's Hospital at Skyview Villa Apartments. Omar declared in English, 'I'm celebrating my discharge!'
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November 16, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - YALDA KABIRI, who survived working in the most dangerous provinces in Afghanistan as an interpreter for the U.S. Armed Forces, describes how she ducked for cover when she heard gunshots outside her window in Sacramento last summer while cooking. 'We were afraid when they were shooting that bullets would come inside our house,' she said, as children attending her day care center gaze outside where the shooting took place. Kabiri worries about the impact of what the children see. 'My dream was a nice house, nice location, nice area, but unfortunately, when I entered this complex for the first time, I thought, oh, maybe this is a hotel just for a night. Maybe tomorrow or next day, they will change my housing. When I talked with my caseworker, when I entered the home, she said 'Welcome to your home.' I ask, 'This is my house or is it a hotel for a night The carpet was dirty and first night I see the bugs, bedbugs and cockroaches. Even in my country we are poor. We have a good life, but we have no cockroach, no bedbugs.'
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November 16, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - MARLO MCKELVY talks to her son's defense attorney at her home. Renaldo Dejour Williams, 16, has been charged with shooting Afghan refugee Faisal Razmal in the face with a flare gun. Police reports say Williams was a member of the violent Trigga Mob Gang. McKelvy has since moved from the neighborhood saying it's too dangerous.
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November 19, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Afghan refugee Dr. NAJIA MOHIB, 36, kneels for her afternoon prayers at Skyview Villa. She recalls the experience of arriving to their new apartment in the evening and turning on the lights. 'When I first came here the entire floor was full of cockroaches and my case worker called (the apartment complex management) and said please clean the house,' she said. 'I was one month pregnant and was scared and screamed a lot when I saw them (the bugs).'
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November 19, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - BASIRA HAIDARI, 22, peers out of her repaired window, which was broken by vandals as her 18-month-old daughter slept in their Skyview Villa apartment. She is two months pregnant. 'I'm so happy because I wanted one more,' she said. 'I like American baby.' But she worries about safety, and walking along Edison Avenue to her English class with her daughter. 'Small boys say bad words to me and throw small rocks at my head, and it's not safe here,' she said. After a neighbor was struck and killed by a distracted driver and his son severely injured while riding bikes along Edison Avenue, she said that many mothers don't take their children to the park any longer. 'No, it's too dangerous,' she said. 'We want to move, but we can't afford to.'
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November 23, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Afghan tradition calls for a neighbor to deliver the final meal to a family who is moving away. Dr. NAJIA MOHIB holds her 5-month-old baby, MOHAMMAD ATHAR, as she eats the delivered lunch with her children, from left, MOHAMMAD ELTAF, 5 1/2, Hila, 8, and her husband MOHIBULLAH STANA,44, at Skyview Villa, before relocating to Rancho Cordova in November. Hila admitted she was scared living there in the complex. 'It was scary, the people at night, all of them wearing black jackets that have hoods. I thought they would take me to somewhere else,' she said.
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November 23, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Dr. NADIA MOHIB expresses a rare moment of joy after waving goodbye to other Afghan women as she leaves Skyview Villa for her new residence Rancho Cordova. She is one of the few women who was able to get her drivers license. 'It was not America at this complex,' she said.'This can't be America.'
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November 23, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - MALALAI RAFI, far right, joins other Afghan women to bid good-bye to MOHAMMAD ELTAF STANIZAI, 5, left, (whose last name recently changed to Stana) and his family as they move from Skyview Villa Apartments. Mohammad's mother had been hit by a car while walking his sister home from school along Edison Avenue, the same street Malalai's husband was killed and son injured when a motorist hit them. Mohammad's family did not feel safe living in the complex. Many of the Afghan women who fled the Taliban with their SIV husbands rely heavily on one another. They feel isolated, most are unable to speak English, cannot drive and have small children they can't afford daycare for.
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December 10, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - An Afghan refugee who has attempted suicide and who does not want to be identified, drops to the floor clenching a portrait of her son, one of two she had to leave left behind in her war-torn country of Afghanistan when her husband was granted a Special Immigrant Visa. She was only allowed to bring her two younger children. With medications for stress and depression from the previous day's trip to the emergency room sitting on a cabinet in her living room, she worries about her sons left behind and her daughter's safety after she was bullied and beaten so badly at school that she had to be hospitalized. She pleads for help to live in a better place. 'I'm tired of begging people to give my children a ride to school because it's so unsafe for them to walk,' she said. 'I'm afraid my daughter won't come home.' Many Afghan women refugees feel isolated and depressed after arriving in the United States. They speak little to no English and struggle to navigate their new world with few resources shown to them.
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December 17, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Afghan women, who didn't want their faces photographed, participate in an English class taught by Dr. Fahim Pirzada. Pirzada created the class at his apartment complex to help the refugees with their resettlement requirement to learn English. The women's husbands worked as interpreters with the U.S. Armed Forces in war-torn Afghanistan. Threatened by the Taliban, they were granted Special Immigrant Visas to the United States. Under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women are forbidden to attend school. When they arrive to the states, they often feel trapped in their apartments, unable to drive or speak English, explains Pirzada.
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December 20, 2015 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - MALALAI RAFI and her children grieve at the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery. They lost Mustafi Rafi, husband and father, July 12, 2015, just after arriving in the U.S. on a Special Immigrant Visa. He was killed biking with his son Omar, 8. Omar was gravely injured. He was released from the hospital in October, and, here, joins his siblings SALEHA,12, OMRAN, 7, and MARYAM, 13. He wears a helmet to protect his head.
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February 14, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Dr. FAHIM PIRZADA, 39, a Special Immigrant Visa holder and former protocol officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, smiles as his wife SUMAN, 34, right, turns away from the camera because she does not want her face photographed for a portrait with their children from left, MARYAM, 12, ZAKARIYA, 11, and BAHAR, 7. Pirzada beams with pride as he talks about the beautiful pillows his wife hand sewed for their traditional Afghanistan living room. After two years of navigating the system for himself and his family, Pirzada understands the struggles Afghans face and works with the non-profit VIRTIS the nonprofit Veteran, Immigrant and Refugee Institute of Sacramento - to provide mental health care services to refugees. Outside his home, he works as a medical interpreter. He was a doctor in Afghanistan.
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February 21, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - In an image from her life in Afghanistan as an obstetrician, Dr. NAJIA MOHIB describes how proud she was of her work. 'I'm not happy here, we are struggling financially. I want to work as a doctor again,' she said. 'Then I would be happy.' Her husband worked for the Afghanistan National Army from 2008 to 2014 with the U.S. Corps of Engineers based Kabul building facilities. He was an architect but their credentials haven't translated to employment that will sustain their new lives in the United States.
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February 21, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Dr. NAJIA MOHIB displays dozens of commendations, diplomas and certificates showing her education credentials as a doctor in Afghanistan. 'I want to work as a doctor again, then I would be happy,' she said. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has not helped her to enroll in school or get a job in her profession.
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February 21, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - MARYAM RAFI, 13, holds a family photograph showing herself with her arms wrapped around her father Mustafa Rafi, with her sister Saleha at right, and brothers Omar and Omran, in front, in a park in Afghanistan before their move to the U.S.
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February 23, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - As her two children nap under a blanket on the floor, MADEEMA RAZMAL, 22, sobs uncontrollably after arguing with her husband about the condition of their new upstairs apartment. They moved to the second floor to feel more secure, but the rugs were dirty and bugs were a problem. She also continued to worry that her husband would never get a good job again because of his disfigured face.
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February 25, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - As their laundry dries in front of their apartment, Afghan refugee MUSTAFA MOHAMMAD, 3, waits to play with the Ghafoori children. Abdul Abdul Farhad Ghafoori moved his family to the second floor after his bicycle was stolen. 'We expected to be placed in a good, secure area, he said. 'But the first time I got here I thought that there would be good security. I left my stuff outside. I left my bicycle outside. They robbed it. It's not a good and safer place here.'
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February 25, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - ABDUL FARHAD GHAFOORI runs to relieve stress, admitting it's dangerous to run at night but saying he has no choice. ''The way that I thought that America would be is that we will have really calm life, really comfortable life over here,'' Ghafoori said. 'I thought government will help me for a little bit...to be able to take care of my family.'
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February 26, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - A maddening bit of bureaucracy has erased the names of thousands of Afghan refugees arriving in the United States, making it harder to launch their new lives. Special Immigrant Visas granting them U.S. entry, such as this one belonging to Faisal Razmal, listed their first names as last names. Their last names were replaced with an acronym 'FNU' meaning 'first name unknown.'
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February 27, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - FAISAL RAZMAL, right, holds a knife confiscated while on security rounds of three complexes including Skyview Villa Apartments with ALAL GHUPAM-ALI, left. Razmal and his Afghan friend, who also has Special Immigrant Visa status, worked together on the night shift because they thought it was too dangerous to work alone. The apartment complex has since canceled that security contract. Razmal has tried washing dishes and cars and worked as a gas station janitor.
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February 27, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - FAISAL RAZMAL, far left, patrols the parking lot with another Afghan SIV holder ALAL GHUPAM-ALI, center left, at the Oak Plaza apartments. Most of the complexes were littered with empty beer cans, liquor bottles, and drug paraphernalia. The man at right, who said he was from Oakland, was one of many people hanging out late in the various lots. He blurted out a warning to Faisal about the dangers of Edison Avenue. 'Be careful on the street. People get killed there,' he said.
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February 29, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - After working the night shift for minimum wage, ABDUL FARHAD GHAFOORI struggles to stay awake to care for his children KAYINAT, 4, and AHMAD FARZAD, 2, while his wife Badria attends a required ESL course. The interpreter for the coalition forces who put his life on the line in Afghanistan thought he was coming to live a comfortable life and would be able to attend college. 'When we got here I found it different from what I was expecting from the United States,' said Ghafoori. 'I thought that when I'm going there government will help me out a little bit to take care of my family, to take care of myself and have a really good job.'
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March 1, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - On his second day in the U.S. in March, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holder ABDUL MUTALIB, right, listens to Dr. FAHIM PIRZADA. The family speaks little English, and the resettlement agency who brought them to their new home couldn't understand Dari, their native language. He was getting no help from the agency and was relying on friends to help him. 'Our first impression is really bad here in America,' he said.
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March 1, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - With their daughter BIB MARYAM nearby, MADEEMA RAZMAL, 22, plays with her 3-month-old son MOHAMMAD OMAR RAZMAL after serving a dinner of beans to her husband, FAISAL,28. Madame Razmal is now participating in an English class (ESL) and tries to stay upbeat about their future.
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March 1, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Afghan SIV holder JAWED NAIZAI, 24, balances daughter HADIYA NAIZAI, 2 1/2, at Skyview Villa. After leaving the Alameda area in March, he and his wife Marizah Naizai, 22, had nowhere to go. They moved in with Faisal and Madeema Razmal's family with hopes of getting their own apartment. Naizai worked with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan for nearly five years.
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March 1, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - MADEEMA RAZMAL, holding her 4-month-old son, said she sometimes becomes angry about bills. She said her husband 'came from Afghanistan, he has no job, nobody to help him and his relatives in Afghanistan won't leave him alone.
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March 1, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Dr. FAHIM PIRZADA greets Abdul Mutalib's son while looking over the broken and dirty furniture that was given to the refugee family by the resettlement agency. Mutialib is among SIV holders who have complained about how their 'welcome money' is spent. Many say they would prefer to stay in a hotel and figure out the best place to live and how best to spend their money. They would prefer a used car to the broken furniture. Pirzada explains that no one shows them where to shop. 'My friends are helping them,' Pirzada said. 'Not the resettlement agency.'
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April 24, 2016 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - While his brother Nasir Ahmad Noori holds his own son Basat, 3, SIV holder Nazir Ahmad Ahmadi, 32, is reflected in one of more than 30 certificates and letters of commendation from his nine years of work in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nazir and his wife Nelam Ahmadi,18, and their 6-month-old son, Ashir Ahmad Ahmadi, moved in with his brother because the apartment where they were placed by World Vision was filthy and infested with bugs. As he showed dozens of pictures of bugs on his cell phone, he said the family suffered from rashes caused by insect bites during their first night in the U.S. He says his welcome money was used for the down payment of the bug infested apartment. He is so upset that the family is thinking of returning to Afghanistan where the Taliban have threatened his life for working with the U.S. Sunday, April 24, 2016.
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