From his first year of life, Mir Shamsi has made a habit of overcoming harrowing circumstances.
In the winter of 1986, amid a decade-long conflict between Soviet forces and mujahideen rebels, a bomb destroyed his family’s home on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. The blast killed three of his sisters and nine others.
Shamsi – just nine months old at the time – was seriously injured and required years of operations and treatment. To this day, there is still a scar above his temple and several along his right side.
Doctors did not expect him to live past his fifth birthday.
But he did, and he built a life for himself. He became an engineer and got a good job on projects funded by the US Army Corps of Engineers. He bought his own house and a car in Kabul. He met his current wife, Shameem, and they started a family.
Then, in 2021, his life changed again when he heard that the US was withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.
He knew that his work for American interests could make him a target, so he secured a spot on a flight for himself, his wife and their two children on a U.S. Air Force plane. When they arrived at Kabul airport, it was so crowded with people – all desperate to escape Taliban rule – that they could not reach the gate.
Miraculously, he got them on another flight, this time to Romania. The Shamsis lived in a single room with three other refugee families in Bucharest.
“It was very difficult,” he said.
Because Mir spoke English, he got a job as an engineer at a construction company. But his dream was to move to the US, where he had a good friend who lived in Austin. (“He never told me” about the weather in Austin, he says now, laughing.)
After months of delays and expensive medical checks, Shamsi was shocked – and delighted – when he finally received the special immigrant visas for his family.
They moved here in March 2023, settling into an apartment complex in North Austin. Shamsi found work again as a quality control manager for federal contractors in Conroe.
Mir Shamsi chats with wife Shameem while holding their new baby, Liya, in their Austin home. The family came to the US from Afghanistan after Mir served in the US Army Corps of Engineers. He is now being treated for brain cancer.
But shortly after his arrival, the 38-year-old learned he needed surgery for a brain tumor. He held on to his job for as long as possible before his employer terminated his contract in March. He then started chemotherapy in July. The doctors told him that the chemotherapy would last a year, but at this point the tumor has not shrunk as much as they had hoped.
Not wanting to waste time, Mir started pursuing an online master’s degree. While his friend helped him pay for the tuition, Mir is unsure if he will be able to afford the program next semester.
Meanwhile, Shameem, 31, gave birth to a third daughter on October 11. Once certified to teach high school biology in Afghanistan, she is working on earning a U.S. high school equivalency diploma and learning English, which will likely take several years.
Although the family feels fortunate to have Medicaid and food stamps, their lack of income puts them in a dire situation. Interfaith Action of Central Texas has paid several months of rent for the family’s apartment and contributed furnishings and supplies, but they need more help than the organization can provide on its own.
“Here we have to start from scratch again,” says Mir.
Nevertheless, speaking about the difficult experiences that brought him here, Mir is incredibly optimistic, as if he is still amazed that he made it to the US. His energy radiates from his smile, his bright eyes and his expressive hand movements, and he lights up when he talks about his daughters, Hafasa, 6, and Asmah, 5, who are in kindergarten and first grade.
With the calm of a trained engineer and a seasoned optimist, he predicts it will take about ten years to build a new life in the US. He knows his cancer makes that estimate considerably more uncertain.
“When I made my calculation for the future, I said that … I need at least, maybe more than ten years,” he says. “But we’ll see. If (I) are still alive, maybe we can do something else. to the gods.”
The wishes of the Shamsi family
Rental assistance; baby supplies; baby cot; diapers; baby clothes; stroller; car seat; cradle; bank; TV and TV stand; beds for two children; help with internet costs; help with phone bills; smartphone; pressure cooker; kettle; sheets and blankets; help with car insurance; gas gift cards; laptops and a monitor; iPads for children; CD writer for laptop; printer; a toy train set with table; gift cards for Walmart, HEB and Target. Their wish list is available on Amazon.
Nominated by: Interfaith Action for Central Texas, 5307 Airport Blvd., Suite B and C, Austin, Texas, 78751. 512-386-9145, interfaithtexas.org
Her mission: iACT cultivates peace and respect through interfaith dialogue, service and celebration.
Use the form below or click here:https://statesmansfc.kimbia.com/statesmanseasonforcaring
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Season for Caring: Brain cancer threatens Afghan engineer’s new life
