JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s been almost a year since a woman and her family left everything behind to escape the Taliban in Afghanistan to come to Jacksonville.
Gulalai Faizi and her mother, father, two brothers and a pregnant sister-in-law started a new life in the United States after escaping Taliban control on August 19, 2021.
Before escaping, Faizi was studying to become a dentist. He was only six months into his dental school program in Afghanistan when he had to flee to the US.
Now, Faizi is trying to find a local dental school that will accept him and help him achieve his dreams. However, he said starting over was difficult.
“It was a terrible night,” Faizi said. His brother and sister were unable to escape because they were separated from their family at the airport.
“We went outside the airport. We all boarded the plane together to come to America. We lost my brother and sister. I was in the first row,” said Faizi. “I want to talk to the military and the army to say that we received the email. Can we go inside?”
Faizi said he saw people dying in front of him. She recalled the moment when she saw a smoke bomb thrown at a woman, which burned the woman’s face.
She also said that she was in danger of the Taliban especially because she was a civil activist, who led several campaigns on women’s health.
“Girls can’t go to university. University doors are closed to girls. [The Taliban] are against human rights,” Faizi said.
Faizi told News4JAX that his brothers, who were left behind in Afghanistan, are also in danger from the Taliban because of their profession.
His brother is a journalist and his sister is an accountability and gender officer and takes action against hunger organizations.
Faizi comes from a hard-working family and has been studying to be a dentist for six years and has only six months left to complete his program before leaving for America.
“The university I studied at is a very good university and has the same curriculum as here,” Faizi said. “The test I passed in Afghanistan was a difficult test.”
Faizi said he wanted to pursue dentistry to help others and the less privileged receive dental care.
His dental school documents have been transferred to the United States but he is still trying to get accepted at a local dental school.
“It’s not fair that people are poor and can’t do anything for dental,” said Faizi.
Faizi said his dream was to be admitted to the University of Florida.
“I want some people or the government to help me to the UF Health dentistry program to achieve my goals,” said Faizi.
Faizi’s family lives a lot in Afghanistan, so adjusting to a new country has been a challenge.
His family of seven including a baby lives in a three-bedroom apartment. Faizi works as a dental assistant in San Marco to provide for his family, but he doesn’t have a car for work.
The normal commute takes only 15 minutes in the car, but since he has to take the bus to work, it takes him an hour to two hours.
“When we came here we thought we should have a good life, but I can’t sleep in this environment,” said Faizi.
That’s part of the reason why he wants to finish dental school so he can create the best life possible for his family in this new country they call home.
“I want to create a new life here because we started from zero here since we left everything behind. We have a good life,” said Faizi.
Faizi’s mother said she hopes to one day have her son and daughter here with her in the US.
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