Sixth Year, Entry Nine - Rangin's Story

A Partner for America

Day 1,838

The war was five years old in 2006. Most of the allies in this series had not yet begun their service, and Rangin was already running a company alongside the Americans.

He was not hired help. He founded an Afghan construction company and served as its president, and from 2006 to 2011 his firm carried out projects with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan Province.

His days started early, when he was supervising the sites, coordinating his workers, and keeping the projects moving alongside the PRT, all while maintaining a public partnership. When the Governor of Bamyan visited one of his sites, the American PRT manager stood up in front of the governor and backed him, praising the work and the man who delivered it. 

"I will always remember his encouragement," Rangin said.

The point of a Provincial Reconstruction Team was in its name. The United States was betting that Afghans could build their own country, and men like Rangin were the bet. An Afghan firm with Afghan crews drawing wages and completing projects on Afghan ground with American support signaled stability, ingenuity, and capability. 

Rangin reflected on the dignity that his work provided. "Working alongside the American team and successfully completing our projects made me feel honored and proud."

On the day Kabul fell, August 15, 2021, he was in Bamyan. He tried to reach the airport and could not get there. 

"Those days were a disaster for Afghanistan," he said. 

A month later he left his home for Herat Province, taking almost nothing.

He applied for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) in 2022. The case has been delayed every year since, and with visa issuance for Afghans suspended in January 2026, it remains delayed. 

The costs of that delay are borne by his household in Pakistan. His three daughters attend school, an expense the family strains to protect because he believes in what school gives a child. His two sons graduated from high school into nothing, as their status permits no work, so two educated young men wait. He spends his own days studying English and looking after his family, and he keeps the contracts and photographs from his working years safely with him. 

His message to the American people carries no ornament. "We were proud to work alongside you. We have always been your colleagues and partners. Please do not forget us.”

An American official once vouched for him in public, in front of power, when it counted. He is asking that official's country to do it one more time.

"Help speed up and complete the SIV process,” he said. “Our lives depend on their action."

Support allies like Rangin as they wait for the promise to be fulfilled: https://give.nooneleft.org/campaign/831559/donate