Lida Ahmadi worked for two years to obtain her visa to move to the United States. Around the time she was ready to leave for her new journey, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and changed everything. During the evacuation of Afghans who previously worked with the U.S. military and had to leave their homes for safety, Lida worked as an interpreter at the airport with the U.S. Marines. She assisted dozens of Afghans in evacuating the country until she and her family took the last flight to the United States.
IIA Mentor Lida Ahmadi
Lida’s family was resettled by a refugee resettlement agency in Michigan, while Lida was sent to Akron and was resettled by IIA. She let her resettlement case manager know that she was interested in working as an interpreter for employment. IIA recommended that Lida should go to ASIA Inc. for interpreter training, which led to her being hired to work as a case manager at their agency.
Shortly after, Lida was asked to work part-time at IIA as an advisor and mentor to Afghan youth through the Afghan Refugee School Impact Program (ARSI). In this role, she works with young Afghan girls to help them adjust to U.S. culture. Lida currently works with ten girls between the ages of 11 years old to 17 years old in this endeavor.
“I was really happy to accept this job because I wanted to do something for Afghan females because they were going through a lot back in [Afghanistan],” Lida said. “They sacrifice everything for their family, and they never share things to their family, like what they want, and they hide everything within themselves. I was really happy to help them. I was really happy to be their mentor.”
Every weekend, Lida takes her mentees to the Akron Public Library or different coffee shops around Akron to work on homework, socialize, and discuss what it’s like living in their new community. Knowing how vital learning English is to succeeding in their new home, Lida and the girls work on English language skills, like learning the ABC’s. Sometimes the young girls feel discouraged because they don’t know English, which keeps them from wanting to attend school. However, Lida knows that the more they practice, the more comfortable and confident they will be using English.
Lida with her mentees at the library.
At first, Lida was nervous to start mentoring because her mentee’s families were from different tribes back in Afghanistan. The nerves quickly dissipated when she went to her first mentee’s house and met the father of the family, who was kind and happy to have Lida working with his daughter. When Lida was introduced to his daughter, the girl was very shy. Lida told the young girl “not to think of her as a manager but as a best friend and older sister.” After that, Lida’s mentee began opening up about her struggles adjusting to her new community, and now asks Lida to visit her daily.
A major accomplishment Lida has had working with her families is educating them on the importance of schooling and available after-school programs. Now, all her mentees are enrolled in afterschool programs to help with homework, play games, and go on trips. This has greatly helped the young girls socialize and adapt to their new community.
Lida has been a mentor, role model, and example to all the girls she works with, and she continues to inspire her mentees as they receive their educations, meet new friends, and go on new adventures in Akron. She constantly inspires us at IIA by dedicating herself to helping women in her community grow, learn, and live out their dreams, whatever they might be.