When she heard of a wave of refugees seeking to come to the United States from Afghanistan, Mirriam Seddiq decided she wanted to help. Coming from Afghanistan herself as a child, she created an Amazon Wish List last week with everything she thought a person starting over would need: towels, underwear, clothes for children, etc.

Ms Seddiq, a criminal defense and immigration lawyer from northern Virginia, was shocked by what happened when she tweeted the wishlist. In less than 24 hours, more than 80 Amazon boxes arrived at his doorstep. The next day 170 boxes arrived. Then 260.

“I am positively touched by the kindness,” says Ms. Seddiq, who is in the process of forming a non-profit organization to continue the work.

Such efforts by both nonprofits and individuals are helping people like Abid, who arrived in the United States in July and hopes to find work in an unknown country. As the new arrivals are greeted by former refugees and others, they need simple encouragement as well as things like clothes and towels. Even in the midst of his job search, Abid himself takes the time to join a welcoming effort for other newcomers to Dulles Airport.

ALEXANDRIE, Virginia

For many Americans, it is hard to imagine what the tens of thousands of newly arrived Afghan refugees are going through.

But Arshad Mehmood doesn’t have to imagine. He knows. Only seven years ago, Mr. Mehmood was in their shoes, fleeing Pakistan. He describes being kidnapped and tortured by the Taliban for being a local politician.

Today, as the regional coordinator of a national nonprofit organization, Mr. Mehmood and his team in northern Virginia, many of whom are refugees themselves, are helping these newcomers with everything from looking for apartments to translate school registration forms from English to Pashto. They have helped more than 80 Afghan families in the past three months and plan to help nearly 200 by the end of the year.

And while this practical help is important, says Mehmood, it is not what the newly evacuated Afghan allies need most at the moment. It would be encouragement and empathy. And here in Virginia, Afghans find that support in local communities – especially the refugees who came before them.

“English was my third language, but I did. We are living a great life here, ”says Mehmood. His wife, who is a manager at TJ Maxx, feels welcome to wear her hijab to work. Her daughter will be entering her freshman year of college this fall and her son is a defensive star on his American football team.

“We have to tell them these success stories,” says Mehmood. “That’s what they need to hear now.”

There has also been a surge of support from U.S. citizens in northern Virginia, with mosques and places of temporary detention post requests on social media for residents to stop donating after running out of space. “We’re at full capacity,” reads a bright pink notice board outside the Mustafa Center, an Islamic community center in Annandale, Va., Which raised nearly $ 30,000 for families displaced in August.

At the Lutheran Social Services office in Annandale, one of three agencies in northern Virginia working with the State Department to resettle Afghan refugees, a long hallway is overflowing with donations. Several young families walk between boxes filled with toothpaste, deodorant and feminine products.

Kelsey Bhandari, case manager at Lutheran Social Services, says they have responded to more than 2,000 volunteer requests since early August.

“Right now, we have been able to meet their material needs very well,” says Ms. Bhandari. “So being welcoming neighbors is the most important thing we need from the community right now. “

“We all work 24 hours a day”

Local resettlement professionals like Kristyn Peck, CEO of the National Capital Branch of Lutheran Social Services, say the scale and timing of the current efforts is unlike anything they’ve experienced. It was not until the last week of July that Ms Peck and her team were informed that President Joe Biden would begin the mass evacuations on July 31.

“It was like, ‘Tomorrow. Be ready.’ Usually we have more time, ”says Peck. “But there was no hesitation. We were like, ‘Absolutely.’ ”

By the end of September, Ms. Peck’s organization is expected to have assisted over 1,000 Afghans with everything from housing, placement, and enrollment in ESL courses.

“We all work 24 hours a day,” says Peck.

Although President Biden has long signaled the United States’ intention to withdraw from Afghanistan, the chaotic endgame has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats who fear it has not given the military US enough time to evacuate all of its Afghan allies: the locals who have worked alongside US troops for the past two decades. Allies who remain in the country are likely targets of the Taliban – especially those who still hold Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), which are granted to Afghans employed by the United States.

More … than 122,000 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan since Aug. 14, but the Biden administration did not say how much of that figure is made up of Afghans, or how many allies remain in Afghanistan. But estimates suggest 100,000 to 300,000 allies can be left behind.

“My friends, they have passports and visas, but they can’t get to the United States,” says Sayed, who recently arrived in Virginia with his wife and young son.

Sayed, whose real name was withheld for security reasons, learned that his SIV had been approved on July 10 and went into hiding – as instructed by the U.S. Embassy – until his flight leaves for Dulles airport in Virginia a week later. It was only after waiting at his departure gate at Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul with his wife and son that he was able to tell his extended family that they were leaving Afghanistan forever.

Even now, safely on American soil in a Washington suburb with his wife and son playing by his side, Sayed still lives in fear. He is afraid that he has put his family in danger because he helped the United States, and he is afraid that he will not be able to make a living here in America for his wife and son. He and his wife owned their own small business in Afghanistan. Now they are struggling to find jobs. They can’t find a car they can afford, and he has to figure out how to enroll his son, who speaks little English, for school.

“I didn’t dream of this. I dreamed of a new Afghanistan that we have been working on for 20 years, ”he says. “But now it’s gone in the blink of an eye. Now I must forget about Afghanistan. Let’s go.”

With the help of his case manager at Lutheran Social Services, he is making progress. He’s at his office in Annandale picking up a pile of donated goods such as a toaster, paper towels, lamps and a kettle. After living with a close relative since July, he and his family moved into their own apartment this week.

A tweet brings help

After arriving in Dulles, Afghan refugees travel to US military bases for health checkups and paperwork. They will then be connected to a resettlement partner organization like the Lutheran social services, which will help them find housing.

These organizations provide invaluable services, advocates say, but there is little they can do. Newcomers rely on Good Samaritans like Mirriam Seddiq to fill in the gaps.

Ms Seddiq, a criminal defense and immigration attorney from northern Virginia, created an Amazon wishlist last week with everything she thought a person starting over would need: towels, underwear , children’s clothing, etc. She tweeted a link to her wishlist page, which was then retweeted by larger accounts, and 24 hours later, more than 80 Amazon boxes arrived at her doorstep. The next day 170 boxes arrived. Then 260. She had started storing the donations in her garage, but soon had to move into two storage units.

Within days, Ms. Seddiq collected $ 18,000 in donations and over 1,000 boxes from Amazon.

“We’re supposed to have words to express our feelings, but I don’t think I do,” says Seddiq, who came to the United States from Afghanistan when she was very young. “I am horrified and devastated, but at the same time, I am positively overwhelmed by the kindness of these people. “

After seeing the need – and gratitude – of the refugees who have taken what they need from the storage units, Ms. Seddiq hopes to continue this work. She fills out paperwork to be recognized as a non-profit organization called Komak, which means “help” in Pashto. And Ms. Seddiq already has at least two dozen organizers – all children of Afghan refugees.

“The Muslim community is ready to help these families,” says Mehmood. “We have families who provide rooms, food, everything. ”

Mr. Mehmood stops to call a certain Abid, an Afghan refugee who arrived in July. The two discuss the next steps in a job search: Abid was a skilled construction worker in Afghanistan, and Mr. Mehmood helps him find work in America.

But before hanging up, Abid reminds Mr. Mehmood to tell him about any upcoming volunteer opportunities to help the new refugees. Mr. Mehmood tells Abid that he is about to go to Dulles with 50 backpacks for the children who have just landed. Abid says he would like to come and help, but he doesn’t have a car.

“Don’t worry,” Mr. Mehmood says. “I’ll get you back.”