Inside a house in the Fern Creek neighborhood, traditional Afghani tea and black pine nuts are served amid the sounds of children playing.
Within the house of the Qambari family — Mohammad, Najiba and their six children — you won’t find a couch or a recliner. The interior of their home is decorated in a traditional Afghan style with cushions on the floor.
The family, native to central Afghanistan, said that the United States “feels like our home, our own country,” even though the family moved to Kentucky from Afghanistan only three years ago.
Louisvillians might recall the influx of Afghan parolees who moved to the city in late 2021. The influx followed the U.S. military’s withdrawal from the country as the Taliban rapidly regained power over Afghanistan’s capital that August.
Many families, like the Qambaris, arrived through the Afghan Placement and Assistance program of the U.S. Department of State.
Between September 2021 and February 2022, Catholic Charities of Louisville’s Migration and Refugee Services helped 180 Afghans resettle in Louisville, including helping refugee families register their kids in schools, find jobs and gain access to benefits, said Alison Voit, assistant director of Migration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities.
The family is grateful, Mohammad Qambari said, especially to Catholic Charities of Louisville and its Common Earth Gardens program.
This spring, Common Earth Gardens offered a three-month-long, educational farm business training program, in which the family participated.
“We didn’t miss any” of the classes, said Mohammad Qambari.
Thirty-four individuals participated in the program — the program’s highest participation to date.
Many participants in the program, such as the Qambari family, are not new to farming — just new to Kentucky. They farmed in their native countries and want to continue farming in the United States, said Amelia Baylon, garden programs manager at Common Earth Gardens.
Common Earth Gardens helps meet their need for land access, providing a garden plot at a community garden and the farming tools to get started.
The land and the pests are different in Kentucky, said Jane Evans, program director of Common Earth Gardens. So, the program provides resources to farmers as they adapt to Kentucky’s ecology, including knowledgeable individuals in the field to troubleshoot problems.
The program is rich with resources for these individuals, said Evans, as it teaches about Kentucky’s seasons, common pests, natural options for pesticides and the most popular crops that customers are looking for.
The program also offers interpreters at the classes for families like the Qambaris, who speak Dari.
The family started growing late this summer, producing leeks, tomatoes, radishes, green onions, basil and corn.
The Qambari kids are also learning to farm from their parents on the weekends. They hope to grow even more next year.
“Next year, we will have more experience,” Mohammad Qambari said. “A lot of things are different.”
Baylon believes one of the most important successes of the Common Earth Gardens program is the relationships built between farmers. Participants in the program are connected to a farming community, and they’re often able to meet other participants in the program who share a similar culture, or speak the same language.
Mohammad Qambari noted that he met six other individuals from Afghanistan through the program. His family now gathers with more than a dozen other families from Afghanistan to share food and enjoy traditional music — often involving the dombra, a long-necked, two-stringed instrument, and the doyra, a frame drum played by women or children.
Within their community, people practice different religions (some are Christian and some are Muslim), they come from different provinces in Afghanistan, they celebrate different holidays and have different experiences, but sharing language and a native country brings the families together, he said.
With high goals for the future, Mohammad Qambari said he hopes that his kids will continue their education and graduate from college.
Catholic Charities continues to resettle Afghans, just not as rapidly as in 2021. While the public might not see Afghanistan as frequently in the news, refugees who are arriving from Afghanistan share similar stories to those that came previously, and “need the same kind of care that we showed to their compatriots back in 2021,” said Voit.
Resettled individuals often benefit from making personal connections, as individuals who know the city of Louisville well are able to “show them the ropes,” she said.
Those interested in volunteering their time or resources can contact the Migration and Refugee Services Office at Catholic Charities at 636-9263.
The Catholic Church will celebrate the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 29.
