Arizona
Afghan women refugees starting new life in Arizona with help from local couple
PHOENIX – It’s been about two years since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan. It was chaotic as Americans, our allies, and Afghan families tried to escape.
In Arizona, a couple took action quickly to help a number of young women get out, and fast forward to today, more than 60 are in the Phoenix area, pursuing an education and building a life.
The images are hard to forget: people jumping on planes, desperate to escape Taliban control, and the 13 American service members who were killed by a suicide bomber. Humaria Zafari was waiting on a bus by the airport in Kabul when the bomb went off.
“Suddenly in August, out of nowhere, the Taliban came and everything changed,” Zafari said.
Born and raised in Kabul, she was a small child when the United States invaded, so Zafari was able to go to school and get an education. Things, however, quickly changed in 2021.
Nearly 8,000 miles away in Paradise Valley, Vicki Mayo, CEO of GMI Cybersecurity, got a call that would change her life, and Zafari’s.
“We got a phone call my husband and I from a client,” Mayo said. “One of the presidents at T-Mobile and said ‘hey I’m on the board of this university and I’ve heard that there are a number of girls almost 200 that have been marked by the Taliban. They will have no future once the U.S. pulls out.’”
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Mayo was determined to help.
“There are these women who had beautiful bright futures,” Mayo said. “They had jobs, careers, overnight their lives changed. I felt like if I was in that same situation, I would want someone to help me. That’s just been the golden principle.”
Zafari and about 150 young women boarded buses. It took three attempts to eventually fly out.
“Ultimately we were able to rescue 147 girls in 147 hours,” Mayo said.
Zafari is one of more than 60 young Afghan women who now call the Valley home. She attends Thunderbird School of Global Management and works for Chicanos Por La Causa.
“I was working at Arizona Chamber of Commerce as a fellow which was a great experience,” Zafari said.
She left her entire family behind, but is grateful and knows that one day she will see her family again.
“Its a, like it was a dream for me to come here,” Zafari said. “Now it’s like our home now, we are building our life here so I feel happy and I think America is great.”
“When you said to me earlier what’s, why was it so important to save Humaria and these girls, because it’s the right thing to do,” Mayo said.
Instagram page for Afghan Girls’ Next Chapter
https://www.instagram.com/AfghanGirlsNextChapter/
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Christmas is over, but the stores and malls are busy one day later—shoppers either returning gifts that weren’t quite right or spending some of that holiday cash.
“A lot of the stores we went to, you had to wait in lines just to get from one store to the other,” said Jeannie Mac. “It was pretty busy.”
When you think of holiday shopping, you often think of items flying off the shelves.
“There are a lot of discounts at target, 50% off all decorations. You’d be surprised. The shelves are a little empty,” said shopper Joseph Caruana.
But the day after Christmas, many of those items end up back in-store. This year, returns are expected to add up to 17% of all merchandise sales, according to a recent report by the National Retail Federation. It’s about $890 billion in returned unneeded or unwanted gifts.
However, not everyone was there for returns or exchanges.
“Everyone enjoyed the presents, so didn’t have to return anything, thankfully,” said Max Miely.
Many people Arizona’s Family spoke with were mainly there looking to spend their holiday money, including Jenn Neild, who was visiting from Canada.
“We’re just looking around for some post Christmas deals, Boxing Day deals,” she said.
Boxing Day is traditionally a holiday similar to Black Friday, celebrated in the U.K. and Canada.
It was a good opportunity for shoppers who came out ready to use their holiday gift cards or, in other cases, to claim their Christmas gifts.
“We just went to go get my cousins ear pierced for her Christmas present and we’re going to be shopping for pajamas and different things,” said Morgan Uperesa, another shopper.
Because Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 are historically the busiest days for returns, the Better Business Bureau advises you to bring any receipts to the store.
If you don’t have one, they say you should know the rules on returns without it.
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ARIZONA — Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon says the progress of running back James Conner has been “good” this week as the team prepares to battle the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17.
Gannon, however, wouldn’t elaborate more on Conner and didn’t reveal if he’d play in Saturday night’s primetime battle.
Conner is dealing with a knee injury suffered in the second half of Week 16’s loss to the Carolina Panthers, a 36-30 overtime defeat that saw Arizona’s postseason dreams officially end.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said James Conner’s progression from his knee injury has been “good.”
JG did not go further as to whether or not he’ll be good to go on Saturday. — Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) December 26, 2024
Conner was a limited participant in the two prior practice days for Arizona and if he is again the same for Thursday, it’s likely he’ll officially be ruled questionable when the injury report drops later today.
“We’ll see how he goes throughout the week. I know he wants to play, so we’ll do what’s best for him first and then what’s best for the team,” Gannon said of Conner earlier this week.
Once again, Conner has been one of Arizona’s top players throughout the course of the season, once again eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark as the engine of the Cardinals’ offense.
The ink just dried on Conner’s two-year extension to stay in Arizona, as the running back was set to test the free agent market before the Cardinals re-signed him earlier in the year.
If he can go, Conner hopes to help play the role of spoiler in Los Angeles, as the Rams can win the NFC West with a victory over Arizona and a little help.
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Gunshots reportedly rang out at Terminal 4 of Phoenix Sky Harbor on Christmas night.
Airport officials tell Arizona’s Family that police responded to reports of gunfire around 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday.
One security checkpoint and the PHX Sky Train was temporarily closed as part of the investigation, however the areas have since reopened.
At this time, police have not confirmed if anyone is injured or if anyone has been taken into custody in connection with the shooting.
Arizona’s Family has a crew on scene. Check back for updates
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Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
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