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 [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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