Afghans put down roots in U.S. refugee haven

Their exhausting escape from the Taliban took them from Kabul to Qatar, though European cities and U.S. military bases. But now this Afghan family has finally arrived in a small Kentucky city known for receiving refugees. By Kevin Mertens, with material from Reuters

  • Zuleika Zardan, 15, walks from the school bus, near her home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA
    From Kabul to Kentucky: the Zadran family, Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban, came to Bowling Green after a spell at a New Mexico military base. They secured a house and the children have been sent to school, with the help of local resettlement agency, the International Center
  • Wazir Khan Zadran, 41, helps his daughter Zuleikha Zadran, 15, with her homework in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA
    From tribal leader to refugee: Wazir Khan Zadran, a 41-year-old Afghan refugee, was a tribal leader who fought against the Haqqani network, a powerful faction within the Taliban. He said the Americans saved him and his family, including 15-year-old Zuleikha Zadran, by picking them up in a Chinook helicopter in August and taking them to Kabul airport
  • Wazir Khan Zadran, 41, and his wife Noorina Zadran, 36, eat ice-cream with their children at the local Baskin Robbins
    A welcoming, diverse town: Zadran and his wife, Noorina, have been welcomed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which has seen waves of refugees over the last four decades. It began with Cambodians in the 1980s, and then Bosnians fleeing conflict in the 1990s. Added to the mix are refugees from Iraq, Myanmar, Rwanda and Congo, among others, who have helped make the city of 72,000 a diverse and economically thriving place
  • Zadran's children write letters to Santa in the run-up to Christmas 2021
    Help from the local community: "We are so happy in Bowling Green," said Zadran, who has secured a house and sent his children to school with the assistance of the local resettlement agency, the International Center of Kentucky, founded in 1981. "The local community is helping us and introducing the culture to us." His six children are learning songs in English, borrowing books from the library and even sent letters to Santa
  • Siblings Sanaullah Khan Zadran, 6, dressed up as Superman, Zahra Zadran, 4, and his brother Samiullah Khan Zadran, 13, play on their tablets
    Children are adapting fast: among the six children are Sanaullah Khan Zadran, 6, (dressed as Superman), Zahra Zardan, 4 (left), and his brother Samiullah Khan Zadran, 13, playing on a tablet at right. The US government is now handling its largest refugee evacuation since Vietnam. Of the nearly 75,000 people expected to settle in America, Bowling Green is expecting to receive 350 Afghans in 2022
  • A street with uprooted trees and power lines
    Learning how America works: The family is learning how to live in the U.S. – how to drive, how to get a credit card, that sort of thing. A special lesson for the region: what to do when tornadoes come. The twisters that tore through Kentucky earlier this month jolted their sense of security. "We never saw a storm like this before in our life ... so we felt maybe we were going to another war," said Zadran. "But God saved us"
  • Samiullah Khan Zadran, 13, blows a dandelion clock in the family's garden
    Living in safety: tornadoes aside, the Zadran family now lives in safety and are lucky to have a house with a garden in a welcoming community. There are plenty of jobs for the new residents of Bowling Green. The agricultural and manufacturing hub is perhaps best known for the General Motors assembly plant that makes the coveted Corvette sports car
  • Wazir Khan Zadran, 41, and his wife, Noorina Zadran, 36, eat breakfast with their children
    Holding onto their identities: Bowling Green is also a place that allows refugees to hold onto their identities while becoming Americans, offering a socially conservative environment to raise families and practice religions
  • One of the Zadran children runs away from the camera in the family home
    A new culture: at the Zadran house, the children make quick progress with their new culture. The eldest, Zuleikha, teaches her siblings a song in English with the lyrics "What are you thankful for?" As they applaud their own performance, Zuleikha declares "Finished!" and flashes a wide grin