As Afghan refugees face a hard landing in St. Louis, nonprofit leaders form Refugee Command Center [View all]

Sayed Safiullah Abdali is one of more than 300 Afghan refugees who have arrived in St. Louis since Kabul collapsed.

He, his wife and four children once called Kabul home. Abdali worked as a housekeeper for the U.S. Embassy and as a bank teller.

He came to St. Louis expecting a modern life, as he calls it. So far, he’s been disappointed. The Dutchtown apartment the International Institute of St. Louis settled his family in a week ago is sparse — two futons (one missing a seat cushion), a side table and a kitchen table that seats four for his family of six.

They’re using a blanket as a rug for the wood floors and already saw a mouse in the house.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-12-08/international-institute-turns-to-nonprofits-for-help-as-it-resettles-afghan-refugees