Title: A Muslim Student's Journey from Afghanistan to an ELCA University ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 29, 2007
A Muslim Student's Journey from Afghanistan to an ELCA University 07-175-BMC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In post-9/11 America, being a young man from Afghanistan isn't easy, especially in an airport. Just ask 19-year-old Mouluddin Rahimi.
When Rahimi first traveled from his native country of Afghanistan in August 2006 to begin studies at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., he had to convince authorities at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport that he was not a threat.
Rahimi received financial aid from Susquehanna University and is also a recipient of a Phoebe Herman scholarship granted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Susquehanna is one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities.
The authorities found textbooks containing pictures of the Sept. 11 attacks and of Osama bin Laden written in his native language, Dari. "They thought I was a terrorist," said Rahimi. "They asked when I was planning to attack." Rahimi, a former aid worker for the International Committee of the Red Cross and a translator for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, protested. "I was working with you guys to get rid of the Taliban," he told the authorities.
He was able to clear up the confusion with a call to U.S. Army Captain Jack Jarvis, with whom he had worked in Afghanistan. After speaking with Jarvis, "they let me go," said Rahimi in an interview published in the December 2006 issue of Variance, a student-run literary magazine at Susquehanna.
For Rahimi to get a visa to study in the United States was a significant accomplishment. "To this day, there are very few people getting out of that country," said Jarvis.
Rahimi, whose first name is pronounced "Mull-ah-dean," said he felt welcome from the moment he set foot on Susquehanna's campus in August 2006. "It was a beautiful day, a very memorable day," he said. "I'm very happy I came here. It's like my home -- far, far from home."
The sophomore business major is taking a full course load, working several jobs on campus and serving as a resident assistant in Smith Hall. Rahimi is also vice president of Susquehanna's International Club and was selected by the faculty as one of 24 Presidential Fellows for the 2007-2008 academic year.
As the only Muslim on campus, he celebrated Ramadan alone. Ramadan, a holy month of daily fasting that ended on Oct. 13, was particularly hard for Rahimi because he received word in late September that his father had died.
Still, Rahimi felt the support of the campus community. "The president sent condolences and expressed how much they care about me," he said. Students told him, "You are one of the most amazing people we know," he said.
Dr. L. Jay Lemons, president, Susquehanna University, said that Rahimi has already made a strong impression on students and staff at the university. "Mouluddin puts a human face on a land very far from central Pennsylvania, and that is enormously powerful. His own story and his family's tragedy [the death of his father] have impacted the whole campus."
It's not the first time Rahimi has experienced hardship. "I've been through a lot," he said. After the Taliban's rise to power, the Rahimi family fled to a refugee camp in Pakistan in 1999. "It was terrible. No sanitation, dirt floors, so hot and windy," he recalled. "We ran out of money, and then my family had to go back to Afghanistan. We said, 'Wherever we die, we have to die in our own country.'"
Rahimi returned to Peshawar, Pakistan, with one of his brothers to further his education at a boarding school. Then came September 11, 2001, and later the fall of the Taliban. "When the U.S. came to Afghanistan, I got to [go back home and] see my old friends. They all had big smiles on their faces," he said.
Rahimi finished high school in 2004 and quickly put his knowledge of English and five other languages to work. He landed jobs with the International Committee of the Red Cross, then as an interpreter with the U.S. Army for about 6 months in 2006.
That's where Rahimi met Capt. Jarvis. The pair worked together from February to July 2006. Jarvis, 38, said Rahimi stood out from the crowd of interpreters because of his excellent language skills and his honesty. "Mouluddin would always tell me what was said, regardless of if it would make me angry. I could trust him to tell me the truth. That kind of trust is paramount over there," said Jarvis, who retired his commission in February 2007 and now works as an account manager for AT&T, Atlanta.
Like many Afghanis who have weathered years of war and upheaval, in many ways Rahimi seems more mature than the typical American his age, said Jarvis.
"There has got to be a lot of pressure on him to succeed because of the financial situation at home," said Jarvis. "For someone from his country, it's all about getting a job, earning money and supporting your family, even if you're a kid."
Phoebe Herman scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to 17 international students attending ELCA colleges and universities in the 2007-2008 academic year.
The Phoebe Herman Scholarship Endowment Fund was established by a 1994 bequest to the ELCA. Herman was a 1917 graduate of Susquehanna University who died in 1991.
Lemons said there's "a particular symmetry to Mouluddin being a recipient [of a scholarship] created by one of this area's outstanding citizens."
Lemons added that Susquehanna University is a community "committed to a belief that academic excellence requires having a diverse and inclusive community."
Although Rahimi comes from half a world away, he has found a warm welcome with classmates at Susquehanna. "I got a nickname," he said in the Variance interview. "They call me 'Dean' for short. From 15 feet away people will call out 'Dean!' I like this the most."
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog