One man returns home in his pickup truck from his job managing a fruit processing plant near Empire to greet his children as they step off the yellow school bus.
Another shares a homemade dinner with his wife and kids, then naps for a few hours before working the nightshift in the radiology unit at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.
In an apartment building next door, a third man retreats upstairs and uses a hand-me-down sewing machine to mend a customer’s torn Christmas stocking—his side gig to make extra money for his family after he works daytime hours at Spectrum.
These could be the stories of any hard-working men in Leelanau County. In fact, they represent the everyday rituals of three Afghan refugees who worked with the U.S. military and then fled for their safety after the Taliban took Kabul and seized power four years ago.
Khan Totakhil, Ehsan Sahab and Qayum Qayumi, their wives and children are three of the six Afghan families now living in the Traverse City region, including four in Leelanau. They fought with, and interpreted for, coalition forces that occupied their country for 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, who the Taliban sheltered as he used the mountainous central Asian country as his refuge.
Since retaking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have reportedly engaged in widespread reprisals, including executions, torture and arbitrary detentions against former U.S. allies and Afghan security forces. They have also stripped girls and women of their basic human rights and freedoms, a situation widely described as “gender apartheid.”
Here in Northern Michigan, the Afghan families have assimilated and thrived. They play important roles with local employers, as their children attend and earn accolades at local schools.
In early December I visited the homes of the three families and experienced the warm hospitality which is a tenant of the Islamic faith.
Totakhil, once a sergeant major in the Afghan army who trained stateside with U.S. army rangers, wore blue jeans and a Detroit Lions sweatshirt as he fed me tea, dates and pistachios in the living room of his Habitat for Humanity-built home while we waited for the school bus to arrive with his children. Four of them attend Traverse City public schools; his oldest daughter studies at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) and hopes to attend medical school.
When I mentioned how unique I found the Afghan hospitality, he responded that Northern Michiganders have been just as warm and welcoming to his family. They left Kabul the day before it fell to the Taliban, and after brief stops in Qatar and Washington, D.C., they arrived in Traverse City and were received with open arms by cherry farmer Don Gregory and his family. Totakhil now works for Shoreline Fruit, of which Gregory is part-owner.
“Honestly, it feels like home here,” said Totakhil. “We were welcomed at the beginning when we moved here, and it’s still the same today. They invite us into their homes, especially during the holidays.”
Two years ago Karen Puschel organized a Nowruz event for the Afghans and local Middle Eastern families at NMC to celebrate the ancient Persian festival which honors the Spring equinox.
Contrast this with the incendiary rhetoric from President Trump who called Afghans “criminals” after a former Afghan soldier shot two National Guard members near the White House the day before Thanksgiving, killing one of them. (He also called Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities “garbage.”) His administration has severely restricted refugee applications in the weeks since then—cutting off access for Afghans and others.
Totakhil’s path to gain his U.S. citizenship is for the time being frozen.
“We are living in this country, too,” he said. “We count ourselves part of this place. Anything bad that happens, it bothers us, too.
“I hope the government realizes that not everybody is bad. In every religion, every language, every race, most people are good. You might have one bad apple.”
Totakhil pointed to the bond he shares with American soldiers.
“We have history together for 20 years. We’ve been in the same helicopters, wearing the same uniforms, going after the same targets.”
Now that they live in Leelanau County, Totakhil and other Afghan families picnic at local beaches and playgrounds, his kids play soccer in local leagues, and they watch American football on television—just like the rest of us.
Totakhil’s friend and fellow Traverse City resident, Ehsan Sahab, was also an interpreter for the coalition forces in Afghanistan. Ehsan, his wife Nilab and their four children were able to escape to South Korea when Kabul fell to the Taliban, then to Virginia, and eventually to Northern Michigan.
The Sahab family exuded warmth and infectious smiles when I visited their home on a Friday afternoon. Nilab served delicious cake and saffron tea infused with cardamom. The kids, who range in age from kindergarten to high school, sat on the living room couch with us and took part in the conversation. Now that all are in school, Nilab works part-time as a cook at a Traverse City elementary school.
Ehsan playfully referred to Karen Puschel as their children’s “grandma.” They have brought meals each week for Karen’s husband, Jack Segal, who is battling cancer. Both Puschel and Segal are retired senior U.S. diplomats.
Following our interview, Ehsan called me “my brother” and excused himself to take an early evening nap. Every other week, he works at Munson’s radiology unit—a trade he honed as a radiology supervisor at various hospitals in Afghanistan, including a South Korean hospital inside Bagram Air Base, which was the largest U.S. military base in the country.
Munson is grateful for his service.
“The gratitude and depth of experience Ehsan brings to work each shift just makes him a fantastic member of our overnight team,” said Jessica Fuller, Radiology Regional Manager at Munson Healthcare. “As an MRI Technologist Extender, he plays a key role in not only ensuring the safety and comfort of our patients but also efficient coordination of care so that everyone receives their scans in a timely manner.”
Qayum Qayumi also plays an integral role in the community working his day job as an Internet field technician for Spectrum. He and his wife Habiba have four children, including one who received an Optimist award for his positive behavior in school. They arrived from Afghanistan in 2023.
Before Spectrum, Qayumi worked for TentCraft, where he received a special tribute from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for his exemplary work as a sewer. He also won a best pitch competition at CommonGrounds for his concept to launch a tailoring business from his home.
Our family has brought clothes, snowsuits and ripped Christmas stockings to Qayum for sewing and alterations. His work is meticulous and fast. Here’s a link to his business Facebook page. Qayum picked up the skill from his father, who worked as a tailor when the family moved to Pakistan during the Afghan civil war in the 1990s. They returned to Kabul only after the U.S. military pushed out the Taliban in 2001.
Habiba now also works part-time at TentCraft.
Rob Hanel, head of human resources at the Traverse City-based company, praised their work.
“This has been a pretty major success story at TentCraft,” said Hanel. “Aside from Qayum’s professional experience as a technical engineer in his home country of Afghanistan, he grew up working for the family business making and repairing different textiles, and so he is very skilled behind a sewing machine! Qayum quickly became one of our most reliable and skilled sewers, he was always so gracious, dependable, and incredibly hard working.”
Qayum was awarded the 2024 Michigan Works Impact Award and TentCraft was recognized as an employer of choice in Lansing by State Sen. John Damoose and Rep. Betsy Coffia.
After mending a family heirloom Christmas stocking for me at his upstairs workbench, Qayum stopped me before I could drive away and insisted that I stay for a meal. Habiba had made Bolani, a delicious, pan-fried flatbread stuffed with potatoes and peppers, which I dipped in yogurt.
Jacob Wheeler is editor of the Glen Arbor Sun.
