At the March 15, 2024 Board meeting, the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, Inc. presented Dr. and Mrs. Sayed Ali Ahmadi the STEP Award for his successful participation in the Indiana County EARN program.
Dr. Ahmadi’s journey started in the fall of 2018 when he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to attend Indiana University of PA to attain his Master’s Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Ali and his wife Rahima decided that he would go to the states and study while she remained home with their two daughters. Once completed, he started his PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics.
During his time at IUP, the political mood began to quickly change in his home country of Afghanistan. Ali began his process of applying for asylum. Ali was granted asylum in October 2021 and started the process of bringing his wife and daughters to Indiana. Like everything that pertains to immigration, the process is never simple or swift. Ali had to wait four painstaking years until he reunited with his family.
While this time was emotionally taxing on Ali, it paled in comparison to what Rahima lived. While Ali was studying at IUP, Rahima was left alone with two small daughters in Afghanistan. She lived in hiding trying to protect her children. When she finally received word that their immigration hearing was scheduled she had to travel with two small children to Islamabad, Pakistan. The distance would be equivalent of traveling from Florida to Maine. She used whatever means was necessary to travel, even with some of the journey being completed on foot.
In the fall of 2022, Ali struggled with the emotional toll this was taking on his family. He contemplated giving everything up and returning to Afghanistan to save his family. There were countless contacts and resources that he utilized throughout the U.S. to assist getting his family to safety.
Rahima and the girls finally made it to their immigration hearing and were granted asylum in December of 2022. The final leg of their journey began after receiving their travel documents so that they could be reunited in Indiana, PA. In February of 2023, Rahima and the girls finally stepped foot on American soil.
Dr. Ahmadi was enrolled in SNAP EARN in the fall of 2021. He continued in SNAP EARN until the time his family arrived to the US. Once all of Rahima’s paperwork was complete, they were eligible to apply for cash assistance. At that time, Dr. and Mrs. Ahmadi were enrolled in the EARN Program in the Spring of 2023. EARN has assisted these two individuals in many different ways. For Dr. Ahmadi, EARN has served as a resource for assisting him in completing paperwork for the County Assistance Office, understanding taxes and tax returns, and different American processes that his family now face; i.e. how to purchase a home. For Rahima, EARN has served her as a place where she can learn and practice her English. We have also provided her driving lessons where she was able to attain her PA DL and even purchase her own vehicle. Now that both Dr. and Mrs. Ahmadi are no longer on cash assistance, Rahima still volunteers in the EARN Office where she assists with clerical duties.
Dr. Ahmadi is now an adjunct professor at both IUP and Duquesne University. Rahima is working on her Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as she would like to attend nursing school. Rahima is planning to start school in August.
TCWDB’s STEPS Success Program recognizes Success with TCWIB Programs, Employers, Participants, and Staff.