Mason Pazhwak ‘23
Events Editor
If you walked by Scott Commons this past week, you may have noticed a table loaded with a variety of baked goods. If you stopped by to take a look and grab a treat, you would have seen that all of them had been prepared by students here at UVA Law in order to raise funds to help Afghan refugees. Over the past few weeks, seismic changes have rocked Afghanistan and forced hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom supported the U.S.’s recently-terminated two-decade-long intervention, to uproot their lives and make perilous journeys out of the country to seek safety and a better future. Many are now resettling across the U.S. and face an enormous adjustment after having to leave everything behind. Charlottesville has been a major destination, and many Afghans have found a new home in the city. Ida Abhari, a 3L law student and one of the organizers, emphasized how refugees are often unnoticed, yet integral, parts of the community: “I think it’s important for people to understand that Afghans and refugees from other countries are their neighbors and community members in Charlottesville. They’re your grocery store checkout clerks, Uber drivers, and classmates.” She also drew attention to the fact that many newcomers could really use the help at this moment: “Right now in Charlottesville, there are refugee families who cannot send their young children to school because of the lack of affordable housing, because a family needs a permanent address before they’re allowed to enroll in school. I hope this fundraiser will be a small step towards making sure families have decent housing and can do the basic things like enroll their children in school.” As of the end of last week, the bake sale had raised over $3,000. Of the proceeds, $1,000 will go to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a leading organization supporting refugees across the globe, and $2,000 will go directly to newly settled Afghan families in the Charlottesville community.
A law student gets their baked goods fix while supporting a good cause. Photo Courtesy of Ida Abhari.
The bake sale also represented an excellent example of coordination within the UVA Law community. The event was led by the Muslim Law Student Association (MLSA) and co-sponsored by the Middle Eastern & North African Law Student Association (MENA), the American Constitution Society (ACS), the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and Women of Color at UVA Law (WOC). MLSA President Layla Khalid gave all of these organizations, as well as others who volunteered or made donations, a shout-out, saying “It's been very heartwarming to see how fast the Law School community has been able to come together and show support for such an important cause, whether it's baking delicious treats, volunteering to table, or making generous donations. We would not be able to make this happen without the help of MLSA, MENA, ACS, NLG, IRAP, and WOC, who rallied support to help our new neighbors in Charlottesville.”
Efforts like the bake sale are excellent ways to have an immediate impact in the local community while also drawing attention to the larger, more distant events driving their purpose. This latter impact was one of the aims Khalid noted, stating “I hope this fundraiser is able to slightly ease the burden of this life-altering transition for Afghan families, as well as raise awareness in the Law School community of the current humanitarian crisis our communities are facing both locally and abroad.” While many Afghans are now finding new homes in Charlottesville, across the U.S., and in other countries, many, many more remain trapped in Afghanistan, facing a deeply uncertain situation. The country may seem far away, and many feel that there has been enough involvement there after the 20-year engagement that just concluded, but it is critical that law students, and Americans more broadly, don’t forget Afghanistan. The U.S., as a country, can have a major stabilizing influence on how events develop there, and hopefully will continue to play a role in making a brighter future for Afghans. Support in the local community, coupled with this awareness and the advocacy it might inspire, is a great way to help both at home and abroad.
For anyone who would like to continue to donate, please contact either Layla Khalid (lk4hs@virginia.edu) or Ida Abhari (ia7rh@virginia.edu). You can also send donations via Venmo to @MLSAUVA.
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mwp8kk@virginia.edu