Organizations prepare for Afghan refugees in Greensboro

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GREENSBORO, North Carolina (WGHP) – Right now, dozens of Afghan refugees are heading to Greensboro to seek asylum.

As they seek to build a new life for themselves in Tar Heel State, members of the Triad community step in to make sure they have what they need to get started.

On Tuesday, volunteers from College Park: An American Baptist Church were finalizing a home for one of the Afghan families.

The mission, organized by the NC African Services Coalition, is to ensure that these families have a roof over their heads, provisions and transportation.

Five different families from Afghanistan are expected to start their new lives at a Greensboro apartment complex on Wednesday. Fortunately, they won’t have to figure it out on their own.

“We installed the air conditioning unit; we put in the sofa. We moved into a pile of bedding, we checked out where we can put the washer and dryer, ”said Michael Usey, pastor at College Park.

They are not only volunteers from this church, they are also people from different religious congregations and members of the community.

They said they wanted to welcome the Afghan refugees to their new homes in a way that they too would like to be welcome.

While volunteers drilled pieces of a TV cabinet together, others built a brand new crib for a family; store it with toys too.

It’s for a couple in their twenties, traveling the world from Afghanistan, with their 2-year-old daughters and their newborn baby.

“Can you imagine leaving a war-torn country when you are pregnant? I’m pretty sure she was probably born in Germany or one of the military bases, ”Usey said.

It’s a grim reminder of what Afghans face following the withdrawal of US troops – leading to a country under siege by Taliban rulers.

Over the next six months, about 30 College Park volunteers have pledged to help with tutoring efforts, enroll some in schools, provide transportation for them, and help them find employment.

“The easiest part is finding accommodation, finding furniture and moving it in. Then the really critical part is the months and even the years to come, ”said volunteer Don Prince. “If you can imagine coming to a foreign country, different customs, different lifestyles, and you need someone to walk you through this process.”

Most importantly, they plan to befriend these families and hope that the Triad community will too.

“I look forward to what they can teach me about their culture, about God, about life and making lifelong friends,” Usey said.

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