Afghan students share their stories with the community at Downtown Duluth YMCA

On Saturday, Duluth community members had the opportunity to listen and connect with the stories of three students who have immigrated from Afghanistan to the United States – specifically Minnesota.

The three students, Adina, Fariha, and Zahidullah, came to Duluth with Green Card Voices, a Minneapolis based non-profit organization that aims to connect immigrants with their communities through storytelling. Green Card Voices partnered with Duluth Area Family YMCA to give the three students a chance to share their stories of hardship and resilience as they traveled to a new country and culture as teenagers.

The panel was created after Emily Ranta, executive director of the YMCA at the Essentia Wellness Center, saw a similar Green Card Voices Exhibit at Lake Superior College.

“I’ve been following their project. It’s a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that’s expanded quite a bit. They have about 13 published books now of stories of immigrants and refugees, which the vast majority of us here in the United States are. Maybe not first generation, but we might be second, third, fourth, fifth generation,” said Ranta.

The exhibition began two weeks prior to the panel, with large posters displayed in multiple YMCAs across the Northland, telling the stories of over 30 immigrants from Afghanistan.

“Part of our (YMCA) mission is to help communities connect and find each other and find commonalities. And so, this is just a great way to bring communities together, to find those commonalities, to work together to hear each other’s stories, and to support one another,” said Ranta.

Each of the three students at Saturday’s panel shared their experiences with moving to the United States, the transition to a new culture, and the common misconceptions about Afghanistan and its people.

“You have the chance to talk about what you’ve been through and how you feel and then what is hard. And then it’s just kind of really amazing to inspire other people. And, you know, sometimes your words and your stories can really be just pretty much same as with the other people that they’ve been through the same stuff,” said Zahidullah.

That connection with the community is something that Zahidullah has found not only with those he tells his story to, but other immigrants as well.

“You can come to United States or whatever country as an immigrant go there. And then you pretty much feel like you don’t belong here. But then you speak to some people that they came here years ago, and they have had the same experience. You feel like, oh, this guy was here 10 years ago going through the same thing. But now he is in a position where I want to be probably. And then it just inspires you, make you stronger and then kind of gives you the feeling that you belong here,” said Zahidullah.

Click here to learn more about Green Card Voices and hear the stories of more students like Zahildullah.