Afghan refugee families settle in Fayetteville

The Charlotte-based Interpreting Freedom Foundation is helping nearly 40 refugee families from Afghanistan settle in communities in the Triangle and in Fayetteville.

Vikrullah, who fought alongside American troops, managed to get out of Afghanistan and bring his wife and five children to Fayetteville.

"It was very important to me, and luckily, we are here in the United States because, if I would have been in Afghanistan now, 100 percent that I would have been dead by now," Vikrullah said through an interpreter Monday.

His 11-year-old son and other children attend school in Fayetteville, where they're learning English and forgetting about the horrors of war they left behind.

The family's new home is at Welcome House in Fayetteville, provided by Snyder Memorial Baptist Church.

"it is a temporary place for them to live, but we are working on taking some of our rental properties that we own and making it permanent housing for them, said Susie Reeder, the church's minister of missions.

John, an Army master sergeant, met up with Shirrahman, an Afghani interpreter he worked with overseas, at a special meal provided by the Afghan Kabob Restaurant in Fayetteville. John said he's disappointed the U.S. left so many interpreters behind, but he's thankful he was able to help his friend get out.

"Initially, we were just trying to get him through as a U.S. citizen," John said. "Once I realized that his family was there with him, and he was about to leave them behind, we kind of changed our strategy."

Monday's dinner was the start of a movement to make Fayetteville home to more Afghan families, Reeder said.

"This is a good place for them to be because the military wants to help," she said.

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Editor's note: WRAL News didn't use the last names of the refugees or John to protect family and friends still in Afghanistan.