Ep 3 - Sisterhood of Embroidery and Artillery

Looking at a young woman in a headscarf quietly ringing up groceries at Walmart, you would never know the dramatic life she has lived. During the war in Afghanistan, the US military trained a small, elite force of Afghan women called the Female Tactical Platoon (FTP) to serve alongside American special forces on dangerous night raids of suspected Taliban homes and compounds.

These female soldiers had to keep their work secret, even from their own neighbors, because they were not safe in their own country. And when the Taliban took control, there was no plan in place to protect them.

That's when US soldiers - mostly women - who trained and worked with the FTPs decided they would have to be the ones to get this highly endangered group out of Afghanistan. They call themselves Sisters of Service.

This week on Stranger Becomes Neighbor, we follow the path of one remarkable Afghan soldier and the sisterhood that stands by her side. 

For more information including pictures and a transcript of this episode, visit us at kslpodcasts.com.

For more on Hope4Afghanistan, visit the website: hope4afghanistan.org.

And find Sisters of Service at https://sistersofservice.org/

For more information on the PenFed Foundation’s Afghan Rescue and Resettlement program, visit penfedfoundation.org.

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Stranger Becomes Neighbor is sponsored by Better Help.

We saw it on the news. The images still haunt us.

Two years ago this month, a desperate sea of humanity rushed the Kabul airport as the American military started mass evacuations in Afghanistan. Many were left behind to face the Taliban, while some escaped to countries like Iran and Pakistan. 

For over 80,000 refugees, America is now home. Their lives continue, but our news feeds have moved on, blasting stories about today’s crisis-du-jour. Now these evacuees live beside us, trying to make ends meet, find housing, gain acceptance, adapt to a new culture, and become valued members of our communities.

In Stranger Becomes Neighbor, we follow them. And we meet the Americans who have chosen to help their new neighbors. Like the stay-at-home mom who convinces a neighbor to rent out their basement to a pregnant Afghan woman, then finds herself helping to deliver the baby. Like a young widow who served in a secret pro-American unit of the Afghan military and now struggles to find childcare so she can work at Walmart.

Their stories – and the heartbreaking stories of loved ones left behind – inspire us to discover the hope and triumph of the human spirit.

What can one person do to help a stranger? 

We find out on a new podcast from KSL Podcasts, the people who brought you Cold and The Letter.

Coming soon, Stranger Becomes Neighbor