2025 - Q2

Operation Education

I’m excited to announce the launch of a new program called Operation Education. It will help women in Idaho Falls who have had their education repressed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Each of the next several newsletters will include a first person story from one of these intelligent, intrepid women. To protect their privacy and security their names have been changed and their photos altered. Here is the first story:

My Journey: From Fear in Kabul to Freedom in America

My name is Jafari, and I was born and raised in Afghanistan during the first time the Taliban ruled our country. I don’t remember those early years, but from the stories my mother told me, it was a time of fear and silence, especially for women. I never imagined I would live through it again.

My family moved to Kabul in hopes of a better future, for me and my siblings. I began school in the west of Kabul, where many Hazara families live. From a young age, I dreamed of graduating high school and going to college. Although we faced financial struggles, my family always supported me. They believed in my dream even when the world around us made it hard to dream at all.

In Afghanistan, women have long been denied the chance to grow, to learn, and to lead. My own mother was never allowed to go to school, she still cannot read or write. But thanks to the progress of the last two decades, and the incredible support of the United States and American people, girls like me were given a chance. I grabbed it with both hands. I wanted to study, to honor the sacrifices of the women before me, and to build the future my mother was never allowed to have.

While I was in high school, terror returned. Our schools, learning centers, and neighborhoods in west Kabul were targeted again and again. Despite the fear, I kept going. I graduated high school with courage in my heart and a passion for the medical field, because helping others has always been my calling.

I started college and began general medical studies. But the violence didn't stop. I lost a dear classmate in one of the attacks. She was the only child in her family, and she left behind a one-year-old daughter. Her memory lives in me. It reminds me of what we were willing to risk just for an education.

Eventually, it became too dangerous. My family feared for my life, and I had to stop going to college. There was no safety, not in schools, not in mosques, not on buses or in hospitals. Even newborn babies were not spared.

In 2020, I got married to a man whose family has known mine for generations. He encouraged me to return to school, and I began studying OBGYN. But just as hope was growing, the Taliban returned. Everything changed overnight. Women were banned from education, and restriction after restriction took away our rights and our voices.

My husband had to flee the country for our safety. When he left, I had no way to contact him. His phone was taken. I didn’t know if he was alive. Those months of silence were some of the darkest days of my life. After a long and difficult journey, he made it to the U.S. I waited for more than three years, and finally, in October of last year, I was able to reunite with him in America.

Since arriving in the U.S., I’ve been filled with hope and determination. I’m learning English at CEI, where I’ve found not just education, but a supportive and welcoming community. Every day in class reminds me of the opportunities I now have and the dreams that girls back home are still waiting to reach. With the help of kind friends, I achieved a lifelong dream by getting my driver’s license. I also volunteer at a sewing club, where I’ve built meaningful connections, and I’m learning to ride a bike, something I was never allowed to do growing up.

Now, I’m preparing to start the nursing program at CEI. For me, nursing is more than a profession, it’s a way to give back, to care for others, and to honor the sacrifices and dreams of those who never got the chance. My dream now is to finish nursing school, to give back by caring for others, and to support Afghan girls who are still waiting for their chance.

Every painful experience I’ve lived through has shaped who I am. And I carry the memory of my classmate with me, her life, her courage, her sacrifice. I will keep moving forward, for her, for my mother, and for every Afghan girl still fighting to be seen and heard.

With hope, Jafari

100 % of the money we raise will go directly for tuition and fees at the school the women choose. Currently all four attend or plan to attend the College of Eastern Idaho.  Our goal is to raise enough by the end of July to help pay for the 2024-2025 school year.

Info on how to donate to Bridge Builders is here: https://sites.google.com/view/idaho-falls-bridge-builders/home/how-to-donate?authuser=0

In the community and the news

I’ll be presenting a class at Friends for Learning on Weds, Apr 16, at 10:00 AM in the ISU-Idaho Falls CHE building, room 213. The class is free if you are already a member of FFL. If not, membership is $20. FFL  is for people age 50 and older. See:  Bridge Builders | ISU Continuing Education and Workforce Training 

Kim and I were honored to accept one of the Mayor’s Choice awards on behalf of Bridge Builders at a January city council meeting. When I spoke to the city council I said something like: ‘There are a lot of heroes in this story. Kim and I are not among them. The heroes are the pilots who fought the Taliban, the US military who helped them come to the US, their wives who held and continue to hold families together during a 3 year separation, and the people of Idaho Falls who welcomed them!’

Family reunification should be integral to immigration reform

Please continue contacting the offices of your elected officials at the local, state, and national level. I suggest saying something like this:

It’s been more than 3.5 years since the Afghan Air Force flew 59 aircraft out of Kabul, to prevent the aircraft from falling into the hands of the Taliban. The US helped the pilots relocate to the United States. Six of those pilots now live in Idaho Falls. All six are married.  All have asylum. All have full-time jobs, speak good English, and are enrolled as students at CEI and ISU.  

But only four of them have been reunited with their families.  

The wives and children have passports, good health, present no security risks, and have been ready to travel for years. They all have USCIS case files under form I-730, Refugee Asylee Relative Petition. The only thing they are waiting for is a US visa.

All of the pilots and their families have filled out every form, followed every rule and law, and waited patiently every time they have been told to wait patiently.  But for families to be separated for more than three years is indefensible, and their cases should be expedited with urgency. As immigration reform is debated at every level of government, please don’t forget about reuniting these families! 

Celebrating the feast of Ramadan and my thoughts on the new mosque

Kim and I were privileged to attend the IF Muslim Association Eid al-Fitr meal again, celebrating the end of the month of Ramadan. Countries of origin represented included Syria, Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkei, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Mauritius. If you are trying to visualize the party, in addition to a meal and prayer mats, you should also imagine a giant bouncy castle filled with noisy, adorable children. 

Around the time of the Eid, East Idaho News ran a story about the new mosque that is under construction in Ammon. Here are my thoughts: The US is a pluralistic democracy with freedom of religion enshrined in the First Amendment. In the US, Muslims have precisely  the same right to fund, build, and worship in a mosque as I do in a Christian church. If you are a Christian leader, please resist the temptation to fear-monger, and instead use your platform to encourage people to love like Jesus loved, reaching across ethnic, political, and tribal boundaries.

Joe Mitchell Apr 14 2025