'I want what everybody wants,' Afghan refugee says after a year of safety in US

Romal Noori escaped Afghanistan with his family a year ago. There, the family had lived in danger under Taliban rule because of his near-decade work for the United States government. Since finding safety for his family in southwest Missouri, Noori has focused on giving back to his new home and making it better for his family.

"I hope someday my children became helpful for the community, for the people around them, for the neighbors, for the needy pupils. This is my wish for them, and I'd like to see them with such a great opportunity to help others like people keep helping us," Noori told the News-Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Soon after landing in Springfield in January this year, Noori applied to work for the city's refugee resettlement agency — working as a donations coordinator and caseworker.

"Romal is just one of those people that has a heart for service. He is just one of those individuals that was just ready and willing to help his community," said Rebekah Thomas, head of the International Institute of Southwest Missouri resettlement agency.

Though he recently departed the International Institute to explore other opportunities, Thomas said Noori was essential to the group's success while resettling Afghans in the Springfield area.

"I think that's part of the human condition, I think is that people want to serve, and they want to give back and they show appreciation and they're grateful," she told the News-Leader.

"In America you try your best and do hard work to help people and thank God and have a goal," Noori said of his time at the agency.

The man has been helping Americans since he was a teenager — working as a translator and later a technician for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. That work made him a target as the United States withdrew from their twenty-year presence in his country and the Taliban once again controlled the levers of power in Afghanistan.

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Noori documented his experience during the withdrawal and his fledgling escape from the country through interviews with the New York Times.

“We are unhappy that the U.S. troops are going to leave Afghanistan because 20,000 people, they were working …” Noori said in an interview with the Times. “We were there for them to help them. Now, we need their help and they can’t turn their backs on us.”

Working with a local Springfield-area Afghan veteran, Tommy Breedlove, and other volunteer service members, Noori was able to escape Afghanistan and was eventually resettled in southwest Missouri. But before his own escape, Romal helped dozens of his countrymen.

According to Breedlove, Romal helped him evacuate at least fifty other venerable Afghans before facilitating his own escape.

"They are my heroes," Noori said of Breedlove and his wife when he landed at Springfield's airport in January this year. "I know they won't like that but they are. They have changed my life — the life of my children."

Successful relocations "just a drop in the bucket"

Speaking to the News-Leader this month, Breedlove flatly rejected that characterization.

"Everyone was so proud of me. I got these awards, all this crap. … But it was nothing. It just felt like nothing but failure to me. We got 35,000 people on the books and you get 1,000 people out. But it was just a drop in the bucket," Breedlove said of his work to evacuate Afghans.

Having previously served in Iraq with the U.S. Army, Breedlove worked in Afghanistan as private security contracted through the US government from 2006 to 2013. There, he served as an advisor to Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, and trained his personal security forces.

Since 2013, Breedlove has lived a calmer life back home in southwest Missouri. That was until last year when the United States began their Afghanistan exit while leaving behind many of those Afghans who had worked for the U.S., like Noori. Many months after the Taliban regained control of the country, Breedlove was burned out and had to take a step back from his work.

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"It was just too much. Nearly a year at about 18 hours a day. Sometimes more than that. It just drained me and my family," he told the News-Leader. The stress of being on the phone at all hours with Afghans in life-and-death situations also triggered his latent PTSD.

"I've been back for some time so it's kind of funny that those symptoms hit me later on and then the Afghan stuff kicked in that kind of got pushed aside. I was back in the mission so just kept going. But that just took a toll on me. At some point I was no use. I was just in my head. We lost a lot of guys over the phone during that time. Guys we knew would just get shot right on the phone. And it messed me up in a way I hadn't been before," he said.

The private, veteran-run organization he worked with, Project Exodus Relief, is still in operation but is now more focused on "sustainment," or support, for those who now will likely remain in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Most of Noori's extended family also remains in the country. They are unlikely to be able to leave, he said.

"I do have family in Afghanistan this day. My parents, my siblings. They are still in Afghanistan. That's the major thing that I'm worrying about their safety and their situation."

"I would just reach out if you have a Ukrainian neighbor, an Afghan neighbor."

The International Institute of Southwest Missouri resettled 107 Afghan "humanitarian parolees," according to Thomas — a temporary designation for those admitted to the United States because of significant humanitarian reasons. Refugees apply for permanent asylum in the United States.

According to Thomas, Springfield "really rose to the occasion" to help Afghan and later Ukrainian parolees to the area.

"It's actually been an amazing experience. We had over 110 volunteers that passed our background check process and became official volunteers that supported Afghan refugees. They have walked alongside these families and continue to support them and help them transition to the U.S."

Much of the institute's time and attention has shifted from Afghan resettlement to assisting the 307 Ukranian humanitarian parolees served by the organization. Whether it be newly immigrated Afghans or Ukrainians settled in the area, Thomas encouraged southwest Missourians to care for their new neighbors this holiday season in the spirit of giving back.

"I would just ask Springfield residents to remain mindful that they're here. A lot of them have experienced trauma. You know, they're fleeing war. And a lot of them have a lot of concerns for their families back in Ukraine and Afghanistan.

"I would just reach out if you have a Ukrainian neighbor, an Afghan neighbor. Just reach out to them and ask them if they need help," she said.

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Noori told the News-Leader that countless Springfieldians have helped his family to thrive since they arrived.

"The experience is wonderful, great. Since I got here, I start working. I seek help from the government and the community people and neighbors," Noori told the News-Leader. "Everybody is willing to help for people who needs help."

Two of Noori's four children are just old enough to be in school — where Noori said they are excelling.

"They learn the culture, they learn a lot of things. They can solve now their problems without me, without any assistance. Often they solve a lot better than I would."

He also noted how grateful he has been for their teachers and classmates for welcoming them and making them feel like the American kids they now are.

"They are building their relations. The classmates, the teacher, their friends. Everybody loved them. They said they are such a good nice and talented kids. It is very good for a father to hear these kinds of things about their family."

That sentiment is a far cry from Noori's time in Afghanistan, where he told the New York Times he constantly feared for his family's safety.

"Last night, too many attacks on the base. The kids, they cried. I told them there is no Taliban, nothing is going to happen to us. Don't worry," he said in the 2021 NYT video.

But now, as his family sits around their dining table, he believes they will be safe.

"I want what everybody wants. The only important thing for me is for family healthy and happy and without any safety concern. That's what I have in Springfield."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Afghan refugee Romal Noori says family thriving in Missouri