The Other Side of the Sky

Ahmedi writes that no one knew who was going to take all these refugees to America, but she says that “most of us Afghans didn’t really think about it” (134). Their assumption was that it was the US government, but it turns out it was a private Christian organization called World Relief. When Ahmedi declared that she would apply for herself and her mother, people scoffed at her determination. Local people said that the Americans wanted widows and orphans because they wanted to import slaves to work for American families. Her mother believed what she was hearing and argued with Ahmedi not to take her to America. Ahmedi explained all that she had experienced and seen in Germany, arguing that the local people did not know what they were talking about.

Eventually, her mother agreed that they should apply to go. They had to apply in a posh neighborhood in Quetta. When the appointed day arrived, the Americans were wholly unprepared for the crowd of hundreds of Afghans hoping to apply to immigrate to the US. The Americans were told they needed to find a different place to process the refugees. They moved the operation to a compound in the desert outside of the city.