Occupation: Student

Country of Birth: Afghanistan

Current: Minneapolis, MN

“If we wanted to get warm clothes and shoes we had to wait five to six hours. Sometimes we would get through the line and when it was our turn to get the shoes, there would be no shoes left.”

Yousuf and his whole family are from Kabul, Afghanistan, where he and his friends played different games during different seasons. Yousuf misses that. Every day they would all go outside together and play. 

Once the Taliban arrived in Kabul, Yousuf recalls no one was outside anymore—not the people, not the birds, not the animals. 

The first time Yousuf and his family tried to leave Afghanistan from the airport they couldn’t because the conditions were too dangerous. Two months after sending the American army an email asking for help, they were told  to come to the airport so they could leave. After forty-eight days in the New Jersey military base, Yousuf came to Minnesota with his family. 

At first, Yousuf and his family had a lot of  problems such as not having proper clothes for the weather, enough furniture, or the knowledge of community resources. But after finding some friends, Yousuf and his family got better at understanding the culture, language, and the weather. Yousuf is happy with his friends here, who help him and his loved ones a lot.

He goes to high school where his favorite subjects are math, science, and English. Every time they have assignments, Yousuf is often the first person to finish! Yousuf loves his new life here despite the many hardships he and his family first faced.

In the future, Yousuf wants to return to Afghanistan. He wants there to be peace so he can  become a doctor and a soccer player one day.