HENRICO: COUNTY OF REFUGE – 'The world has turned their back on us'

Editor's note: This is the fifth in a special series of articles, produced in partnership with The Chronicle of Philanthropy, examining the nonprofit organizations that are key to helping refugees in Henrico find employment, learn a new language, acclimate to a new community and thrive.

Last Aug. 15 – the three-year anniversary of the U.S. military evacuating Afghanistan – was like any other day at the Mantu Market, a restaurant, bakery and grocery at 7510 West Broad Street at the Merchants Walk Shopping Center, owned by chef Hamid Noori.

The cook was busy in the kitchen preparing for the evening rush. It was early enough in the day that Noori, who also owns The Mantu Afghan restaurant in Carytown and The Mantu Express in Short Pump, was able to sit down for a few minutes and speak about his own personal journey as a refugee, his business successes and his role helping other refugees get acclimated here.

The poignancy of the anniversary sparked a conversation that showed a mix of pride in his accomplishments, hurt for his fellow Afghans who were harmed in his country’s decades of conflict and anger about the current state of Afghanistan, but also hope for the refugees who have resettled here.

“I think the world has turned their back on us,” Noori said. “They don't even care about 30 million people that are living in a very desperate situation. Nobody cares about the future of this country. Half of the population are girls and women's that are being stopped from education. The world has put us into a dark space, a cage and closed it. And they don't care how things are going to happen.”

He fears a very dark future for his homeland and deems the situation unsafe for Afghanistan, Asia or the world.

That heaviness was belied by a sense of accomplishment in his personal acts that have been a bridge to Afghan cuisine and culture to a broader public, and have played a part helping the many Afghan people here in Henrico get acclimated, especially during their most vulnerable first moments here in the U.S.

When a new Afghan refugee family arrives to be settled by Commonwealth Catholic Charities, the International Rescue Committee or the Afghan Association, Noori often receives a call to provide familiar food. His restaurant acts as a sort of hub for the local Afghan community. During the height of the 2021 Operation Allies Welcome evacuation and resettlement process, Noori was in high gear to assist the newcomers.

“I tried my best. A single voice can do only as much as possible,” said Noori, a father of four who sought refuge in the U.S. a decade ago. “I try to be the voice of Afghan people and of Afghan women and children back in Afghanistan. I try to raise my voice to support, opening schools for girls in Afghanistan. And at the same time, I'm here to support Afghan refugees as much as I can based on my ability.”

That includes sharing his decade of business experience with aspiring entrepreneurs. He has also hired refugees to cook and stock the shelves with grains, teas and snacks, providing a living and a distraction from worry about family back home.

Noori listed the many challenges for those refugees who arrived more recently from Afghanistan, including adjusting to American culture.

“A job is really important, but they should know English to get the job,” Noori said. “It's really hard. Most of my employees are Afghans who don't speak English, and it's really hard for other companies to hire them because, if you don't know the language, it's difficult to communicate. It's not safe.”

Noori emphasized the need for continued language instruction and supported housing in safe neighborhoods for refugees during their adjustment period.

He said refugees also worry about the safety of their families back in Afghanistan, and the many who have gone to neighboring countries where they have sought refuge.

Last year, the IRC posted his face on a stories-high billboard in Times Square in New York City to amplify the image of a refugee who has achieved an American dream and is contributing back to the U.S. economy.

Noori’s mission is to grow his business and share his food and culture with the community, as well as help those who follow him to flourish here. But the state of the country he left behind still troubles him.

“It’s a big prison for the women,” said Noori who also invests in the needy in Afghanistan as well as education for girls. “It’s a waste.”

Where some refugees take their displacement as a stomach punch, comedian Ghulam Nabi Roshan exudes ebullience, making the adjustment and his resettlement process in his new country the key topic of his online comedy platform.

“I was a comedian in Afghanistan, and I was a TV show host. I had a daily show on TV and international TV, every night I was in people's homes. I had a lot of fans. That was my future,” Roshan said during a break last year during a stint working the lunch counter at the Mantu Market. “Now I'm a shopkeeper.”

In 2021 when the Taliban came to power, Roshan was in this TV station office and his boss came and said, “Go home. We don't have anything to do now in comedy because the Taliban doesn’t like comedies.”

“I got outside of office, I saw the streets was closed, and I go home by walk,” Roshan said of Kabul. “It was a very hard day for us. It was like a Zombie City that time.”

To give a sense of his fame from his homeland, Roshan hosted Afghanistan’s version of Family Feud, and his YouTube channel has 167,000 subscribers who enjoy and comment on the content he produces about his life here, travel with his family and their life, including his son’s fifth-grade graduation, where boys and girls sang together and a day at his daughter’s school where parents joined their children for lunch.

Roshan couldn’t leave Afghanistan during the Operation Allies Welcome because of family responsibilities. Two months later, he received a call from YouTube with help to get him and his wife, a skilled sewist, and children out of Afghanistan. The route was via Qatar to Albania, where for 14 months they lived in a hotel and he created content with other YouTubers from Afghanistan while waiting for approval for resettlement in the West.

In Albania, Roshan met a Henrico-based Afghan man, who is connected with a church. As Roshan was being vetted by the U.S. State Department for refugee resettlement, he expressed that he wanted to relocate to Henrico based on that connection.

Due to lack of housing, Roshan’s settlement agency placed him and his family in an extended stay hotel with many other families from Afghanistan.

“Afghans at the hotel told me, ‘You have to be six months, one year here in the hotel.’ I said, ‘Why?’ They told me, ‘IRC is not working.’ I said, ‘It's too important to me. I cannot be in a hotel because I was 14 months in a hotel in Albania,’” Roshan said.

Chef Noori and other friends in Henrico helped him find a townhome but it was a challenge without any credit here. He was lucky to have supporters.

As far as other refugees’ needs, Roshan said the newly resettled need more support from their case workers who are stretched thin and often need to do drive share work.

In his content, Roshan has leaned into his status here as a newcomer, acclimating to a new culture and sometimes posting slapstick videos to give his viewers comic relief. He also creates commercials in Dari for The Mantu Market and other businesses owned or run by Afghan people here in Virginia.

He takes English classes at Reynolds Community College, while working and producing a weekly online TV comedy show with other comedians from Afghanistan who now live in Northern Virginia. He aspires to bring his comedy to American audiences in English.

“Sometimes I'm thinking maybe being a refugee, not knowing the place, is hard,” Roshan said. “Sometimes it’s a nightmare for me.”

But seeing his children, especially his daughter who would not be able to complete an education in Afghanistan, thriving in school, makes the challenge of acclimating here worth it.

“I'm happy for my daughter,” Roshan said.

This article was reported through a fellowship supported by the Lilly Endowment and administered by the Chronicle of Philanthropy to expand coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The Henrico Citizen is solely responsible for all content.