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From Kabul to Clark County

17 images Created 14 Jul 2022

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  • SUMMARY: As US Forces pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban took over in August of 2021, the Azizpour family made the decision to leave everything, not knowing where in the world they would go. The family is Maryam Azizpour, her two daughters, Marwa and Murwarid, her brother, Sajad, her mom, Sediqa, and her father, Mohammed. Maryam said, “We are loving this country more, day by day…because we are happy here. We don’t have to be scared here.” Maryam’s husband and the girls’ dad, Jamal Nasser Azizpour, left Afghanistan in 2019 to earn a master’s degree at a German university, where he is still living. He hoped to pave the way for the rest of the family to join him and build better lives there. After the Taliban took over in 2021, the family decided to flee and endured a chaotic and violent journey to the airport. They hoped to join Jamal in Germany, but they were told only Afghans with German passports could go. An American official suggested they come to the United States, which would offer a better future for the family. Maryam recently went in for an interview in the hopes of gaining asylum status, which would also help her bring Jamal to Vancouver to be with his family. Without asylum, the family is only allowed to stay in the country for two years. <br />
Azizpour and her family are among the 144 Afghans who were evacuated that resettled in the Vancouver area.<br />
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CAPTION: Murwarid Azizpour, 6, foreground, curls up with a smartphone before joining her uncle, Sajad Ibrahimi, her grandmother, Sediqa Rustami, and her grandfather, Mohammad Ismail Rezayee, as they break the nightly fast during Ramadan on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at their Vancouver townhouse. Ibrahimi said although it is important to honor customs, such as the Afghan tradition of eating on the floor, he is excited about life in the United States. “You also learn to love the new culture,” he said.
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  • Reed Ovall, 9, from left, joins Murwarid Azizpour, 6, Marwa Azizpour, 10, Maryam Azizpour, and his father, Jeff Ovall, as they gather to take part in their first Easter egg hunt on Sunday, April 17, 2022, in Vancouver. Although the family is Muslim, they were interested in learning about the holiday from the Ovall family, who hosted them when they first arrived in Washington.
    02_From Kabul to Clark County.jpg
  • Murwarid Azizpour, from left, takes a moment to talk with her father, Jamal Azizpour, over video chat as her sister, Marwa, gets some help with her skates from their mother, Maryam, on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, at Oaks Park Roller Rink in Portland, Ore. Jamal, who has been separated from his wife and children since 2019, is still waiting in Germany and hoping he can join his family in the United States. "We miss him very much," said Maryam Azizpour.
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  • Fifth-grader Marwa Azizpour pauses from a field day game to encourage a classmate after he was ruled out Friday, June 10, 2022, at their Vancouver elementary school. A teacher said during her first week at school, Marwa spotted a peer who was alone and crying on the playground and, despite her newness and limited English, immediately sought help from a teacher.
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  • First-grader Murwarid Azizpour, lower right, joins a newcomers language class for kids from different countries Friday, June 10, 2022, at her elementary school. In Afghanistan, the Taliban promised to allow women and girls to pursue education but did not follow through.
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  • Marwa Azizpour, left, fights back tears as she and her sister, Murwarid, say goodbye to one of their beloved teachers before leaving campus on the last day of school Thursday, June 16, 2022. Marwa, who was part of the graduating class of fifth-graders, will need to start over yet again next year with new kids and teachers as she continues on to middle school as a sixth-grader.
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  • Employment specialist Maryam Azizpour works next to a male colleague as they help fellow refugees on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, at her office. Women are not allowed to work in Afghanistan while the Taliban are in power. “The day the Taliban arrived at Kabul, women could not go out, no girls were allowed to go to school, and women were not allowed to go to jobs where they work with men,” she said.
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  • Sajad Ibrahimi uses his smartphone to navigate over the Interstate 5 Bridge while taking his parents grocery shopping at an Afghan grocery store in Oregon on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Ibrahimi said he thinks “Home Sweet Home” when he crosses back into Vancouver.
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  • Sediqa Rustami, from left, joins her husband, Mohammad Ismail Rezayee, and son, Sajad Ibrahimi, as they load up their groceries Sunday, April 24, 2022, after shopping at Bazaar Food Market in Beaverton, Ore. The store, which they visit once a month, is where the family finds halal meat, food and spices from home they are used to eating.
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  • Maryam Azizpour, from left, joins her daughters, Marwa, and Murwarid, as she uses her smartphone to navigate stores during back-to-school shopping Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, at Vancouver Mall.
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  • Sediqa Rustami, foreground, pauses to cool off in a splash pad with her granddaughter, Marwa Azizpour, right, on the final day of a summer heat wave on Sunday, July 31, 2022, at Salmon Creek Regional Park . "It's her favorite spot," Maryam Azizpour said. Although there are no splash pads in Kabul, the family said there used to be one pool for women but it was closed when the Taliban came to power.
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  • Murwarid Azizpour, 7, left, pauses for a quiet moment with her grandmother, Sediqa Rustami, during a family picnic on Sunday, July 31, 2022, at Salmon Creek Regional Park. "I love her," Rustami said. The family gathered at the park with other local families to cool off during a summer heat wave in the splash pad and to enjoy a barbecue together.
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  • Marwa Azizpour, left, keeps her balance in check while joining a crowd of roller skating enthusiasts on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, at Oaks Park Roller Rink in Portland, Ore. Azizpour has been learning the sport with her sister and her uncle since arriving in the United States.
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  • A sticky note translates things around the house from English to the Afghan language of Dari, on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Maryam Azizpour and her brother, Sajad Ibrahimi, who were both students at the American University in Kabul, speak English nearly fluently but the rest of the family was new to the language when they first arrived in the United States.
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  • Sediqa Rustami, from left, Sajad Ibrahimi, Marwa Azizpour, and Mohammad Ismail Rezayee gather to watch a television channel from Afghanistan via YouTube on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022 at their home. The television and furniture were all donated by the community because the family had to leave everything behind when they fled from the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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  • Maryam Azizpour, left, pauses to snap a photo as her daughters, Marwa and Murwarid, experience trick-or-treating for the first time Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in their neighborhood. Maryam often takes photos and videos to send to Jamal in Germany so he can still feel connected to his family.
    17_From Kabul to Clark County.jpg
  • Murwarid Azizpour, top, joins her sister, Marwa, as they listen to a bedtime story read by their mom, Maryam, on Monday, June 6, 2022. Maryam translated the book, "The Smart Cookie", from English to the Afghan language of Dari in some parts to be sure the girls could follow the story. The family hopes to find out whether they can stay in the United States in early 2023.
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Amanda Cowan: Editorial & Documentary Photographer

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