An Ossining woman is ready to welcome her cousin to America after she fled Afghanistan last month.
Nearly a month after a frantic escape from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, women’s rights advocate Freshta Nazari is finally in America.
Nazari celebrated her 25th birthday Thursday at a refugee shelter at a military base in New Jersey.
Ossining resident Sofia Bator has worked tirelessly to help Nazari, her cousin, flee Afghanistan before American forces withdrew at the end of August. She says Nazari is excited to start a new life in America.
“She is very anxious to learn the language...meet all those people that helped her to get to this point,” Bator says.
After a brief stay in Germany, Nazari is now going through refugee processing in the United States.
While Nazari is embracing her new future, she says she hasn’t forgotten about her painful past. She says she still wants to continue to advocate for human rights in her home country.
Bator says Nazari hopes to continue her education at Westchester Community College, and to make a documentary about her escape from Afghanistan.