Afghan Family Resettlement

Ramadan, a month of introspection and prayer for Muslims, started on April 2. During Ramadan, Nabeb and Maryam will fast from sunup to sundown. During this holy month, you may greet them by saying, "Ramadan Mubarak" which means "blessed Ramadan." The family continues to be very busy and to make tremendous progress:

• Misha Plam, a longtime member of Har HaShem and a Russian refugee who arrived with his wife, Olga, and son, Yegor, in 1977, died in late February. His widow, Olga, donated their 2016 Subaru Forester to our Afghan family. The car was registered on March 28 and reasonable, high-quality insurance was obtained. The vehicle has only 15,000 miles on it and accommodates three car seats! Olga noted that they were refugees and that donating the car to our refugee family brought things full circle.
• Najeb and Maryam toured the JCC pre-school and the Boulder Head Start pre-school. Their oldest child will be four this June and will be ready to attend pre-school in August.  The new baby, born in late February, is doing very well. The family members are all still going to Clinica for medical and dental visits.
• Najeb has applied for green cards for himself, Maryam, and the two older children (the baby is a U.S. citizen!), which allows them to become permanent residents. We have an appointment to get the baby an American passport.
• Najeb met with Workforce Boulder County and it’s likely he will be able to take a Commercial Driver's License class to become a truck driver soon.
• The CU International English Center has designed intensive English classes especially for the Afghan men and women in our refugee families. The women do not know how to read or write in their native languages, and will be starting English at a basic level. The classes for the women are being held at the Boulder JCC in donated space with childcare available. The men’s classes are at the Mapleton YMCA in Boulder. The Boulder County Afghan Resettlement Task Force has secured grant funding from the State for the first 16 weeks of classes (4 hours per week), but it is anticipated that an additional 24 weeks of classes will be needed.
• We plan to have a one-hour cultural orientation on Afghanistan in late April, led by Dr Jennifer Fluorian, an expert from the CU Department of Geography. All congregants will be invited to this orientation.

Current Needs for the Family

• Female volunteers are needed to help transport Maryam and the baby to and from her English classes at the Boulder JCC on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. If you can help with transportation, please email: resettlement@harhashem.org.
• We need a crew of people to help spruce up the yard for the family and help plant a vegetable garden this spring. We are thinking this might be a nice way to celebrate Earth Day (which is April 22). If you would like to be part of this gardening crew, please email: resettlement@harhashem.org.