Kabul fell under Taliban rule<\/a>. <\/p>\nBy the time Khadija and her family returned home that evening, relatives were calling from Afghanistan. The president was gone. The Taliban controlled the country. And their future? No one was certain, but they feared the worst.<\/p>\n
“At that time, I hoped I could do something for my people,” Khadija said. <\/p>\n
“I should make a change even if it’s very small\u2026 as small as a drop.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Khadija was born in Afghanistan but left the country with her parents when she was just a year old. She grew up in Iran, and after finishing high school and entering the workforce, she and her then-husband resettled in Afghanistan for the next decade.<\/p>\n
But they felt unsafe in the country, and with five small children, they feared the many mountains and miles they would have to travel to leave.<\/p>\n
They applied for the Diversity Visa Program, and in 2016, they came to the United States with their children. They wasted no time creating a better future in the US: Khadija found a job and began selling Afghan dishes at the local farmers market three times a week.<\/p>\n