AGSC Participates in Efforts to Help with Resettlement of Afghan Refugee Women in Metro Atlanta

Posted December 2, 2021

For months, you have heard about Afghan women trying to build new lives after escaping the cruelty of the Taliban. Now, you can help! At Georgia State University, the Intensive English Program (IEP) is sponsoring six female students from the Asian University for Women (AUW). They managed to escape from Afghanistan in August and since then, have been staying at Fort McCoy, a military base in Wisconsin. They should arrive in Atlanta in the next few weeks. 

These women, ages 21-24, were at the start of their academic careers but had to flee their homeland after the Taliban took over. GSU will provide them with support for the first year while they improve their academic English. 

The students are Shegofa, Robaba, Shamsia, Zarafshan, Hanifa, and Husnia. They are eager to learn and build futures for themselves, but nervous about this new stage of their lives. IEP teachers have been in touch with them via Whatsapp and have sent them short welcome videos. The students sent a video back to introduce themselves.

These young women have been through a horrific ordeal, but their spirits remain high. As we have learned from them, they had only sweatshirts - no coats - and Wisconsin is getting very cold! Good people here in the Atlanta community have mailed them some useful items, as well as some fun items, to help them stay warm and positive. These women also are teaching English to Afghan children on the base, which is a great display of their resilience and determination. 

Georgia State University is working with a group of universities including DePaul University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of North Texas, Suffolk University, West Virginia University, and University of Delaware to place a total of 56 students from AUW. READ MORE

The Atlanta Global Studies Center at Georgia Tech is participating in similar conversations led by GT’s Office of the Vice Provost for International Initiatives and contributing to efforts on campus to help with the resettlement of Afghan refugees, in particular women.

Find out how you can get involved by writing to afgameralliancega@gmail.com and checking out the Afghan American Alliance of Georgia at https://www.facebook.com/AfgAmerAllianceGA. 

Contact AGSC Associate Director Sebnem Ozkan at sebnem.ozkan@gatech.edu for more information on efforts at Georgia Tech.