APRIL 7 • 2022 | 11

“He and his family were 
actually at the airport. He 
was an interpreter for the 
American soldiers so he 
was able to get out,” Farber 
said. “Shafi had videos of the 
Taliban shooting at the airport 
and people climbing the walls. 
He and his family waited in 
lines for two days, not being 
able to leave or go to the bath-
room and with no food, even 
with two very small children.”
Eventually, Shafi and 
his family were able to get 
on a plane, traveling from 
Afghanistan to Qatar to 
Germany and then taken all 
the way to Camp Atterbury in 
Indianapolis, which was full 
of other refugees. They stayed 
there for four months. 

“Shafi said there were about 
7,000 people,” Farber said. “He 
showed me pictures of peo-
ple waiting in line for food, 
miles long, and oftentimes 
they would get to the front 
and there wouldn’t be any 
left. They gave them two pairs 
of pants and shirts, and they 
slept in bunk beds in a bar-
rack with other families.”
After that, Shafi and his 

family were brought to the 
Los Angeles hotel with almost 
100 other Afghan refugees. 
Shafi is one of the few refugees 
who speaks and understands 
English, which helped in the 
initial meeting with Farber.
“So Shafi’s showing me all 
these pictures and videos, and 
my grandson Zach, who is 10 
years old, was listening and said 
he wanted to help,
” Farber said. 

It was at that point Farber 
decided what needed to hap-
pen — her family would help 
them in any way they could. 
 “We decided we were going 
to get involved and help 
because we just couldn’t leave 
these people,” Farber said. 

TIME RUNNING OUT 
Farber was motivated to move 
quickly because the govern-
ment only helps refugees for a 
limited time. 
“Our government gives 
them three months. Shafi and 
his family arrived at the hotel 
on Jan. 4, but the contract was 
signed Dec. 28, so would only 
go until March 28. At the end 
of three months, they had to 

“SHAFI HAD VIDEOS OF 
THE TALIBAN SHOOTING AT 
THE AIRPORT AND PEOPLE 

CLIMBING THE WALLS.”

— KAREN FARBER

An Amazon wish list delivery. Shafi, his 
wife and son, along with Larry Farber 
and his grandson Zach.

continued on page 12

