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CNN Sunday Morning

An Afghan-American Family's Unique Perspective

Aired October 28, 2001 - 08:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: These are particularly anxious times for Afghans living in the United States; far from the war, but close to their culture. A connection not only made by haunting television images, but family ties and commitment.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has one family's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the comfort and safety of a Los Angeles suburb, Zarmina Khalili and her daughter Zohra watch the suffering of Afghan children, and news of bombs raining down on what was once their homeland.

ZARMINA KHALILI, ABUL'S HUSBAND: They're my people, of course it hurts. And Afghanistan is my land. I was born there; I was raised there. And of course it hurts.

GUTIERREZ: They watch images of desperate men, women and children on videotape, shot in refugee camps by Zarmina's husband Abul.

KHALILI: He's helping his people and he's giving them the supplies like food, medicine, clothes.

GUTIERREZ: The family says Abul has made the trip to Afghanistan eight times to provide humanitarian relief. She believes he is there now, somewhere in the north.

KHALILI: No communication at all, because there is no way that we can have communication.

GUTIERREZ: Abul left Los Angeles more than a month ago. His wife and children last heard from him when he was about to cross the border into Afghanistan.

ZOHRA KHALILI: I'm afraid that he might get killed, but at the same time I know that he's going to make it because he's a very brave man and I'm very, very proud of him.

GUTIERREZ: Once a parking valet, Abul is now the founder of a non-profit charity called Afghanistan Relief Organization. He has distributed donations of food, clothes and medical supplies to refugees since 1998. ZARMINA KHALILI: He said there's been like times that for 10 days we didn't have food. There's no food, no water, nothing.

GUTIERREZ: Zarmina says these miserable conditions were shot back in March, long before U.S. strikes. The situation now is worse than ever.

ZARMINA KHALILI: "Our homes have been destroyed and we have nothing. And we're just living here under these tents."

GUTIERREZ: The plastic tents, jackets and shoes were donated by Afghan Americans, who say it is now harder to enjoy a meal while so many go hungry.

ZARMINA KHALILI: It's very hard. And it's been like three, four days I haven't slept. And I can't eat, because when I eat, you know, I can't -- it just gets stuck in my throat, because I think that all my people, they are hungry there, and God knows what's going on there right now. And I'm really depressed; really depressed.

GUTIERREZ: 14-year-old Zohra says she is haunted by this image of a 13-year-old Afghan girl.

ZOHRA KHALILI: She was very sick. My dad told me she was very, very deeply hungry.

GUTIERREZ: Abul left the girl's side, visited other children, then returned a few hours later.

ZOHRA KHALILI: When he came back, he found her dead. And when I heard that, I was so shocked, and I couldn't believe that girl died.

GUTIERREZ: The stories are echoed from camp to camp.

ZARMINA KHALILI: I feel sorry for them, and I wonder how they -- how they can live like that. You know, it's not easy to live like that. So I keep wondering that, how they can live like that, you know? It's not easy for them.

GUTIERREZ: And it's not easy on Abul's family, either. They grieve for refugees thousands of miles away and they worry about the man trying to save them somewhere in Afghanistan.

This interview was taped in September, right before he left.

ABUL KHALILI: And I always (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Afghanistan, I pray for myself and for my two daughters, which I love, and for my wife and say, "Goodbye."

ZOHRA KHALILI: If he dies, then when I grow up, I will live on his legacy. I will go to Afghanistan and I will do the same thing as he did.

GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

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