Editor’s Note: Since the young women who are the subjects of this story were interviewed, the Trump administration has issued an Executive Order suspending the program that made it possible for them to escape Taliban rule. The order cancels all flights and suspends all Afghan refugee applications. The same applications each of the young women waited more than a year to get. The names of the teens have been changed out of concern for their safety and the safety of their family
When 16-year-old Afghan national Ghazala first stepped off a plane at the Sunport in Albuquerque in June of 2022, she had a choice to make: yes or no to wearing a headscarf. Growing up under Taliban rule, the decision was not hers to make and now for the first time, it was her choice.
Now 19, Ghazala and her younger sister, Zara, live on the East Coast pursuing an education unavailable in their homeland. Their path to freedom began with sacrifices made by their family in Afghanistan, but the girls’ courage and determination drove their journeys to a new home on the other side of the world. A new home in Santa Fe where they found needed grace and support to find opportunities kept from them under Taliban rule.
The girls recently returned to Santa Fe, their home away from home, for the holidays. They visited friends and the family who extended grace and found enlightenment in return.
“You suddenly realize, we’re all human beings and our hearts beat the same,” Michelle McGregor tells SFR. “These girls will always have a home in Santa Fe. They are family forever now.”
During their most recent trip home, Ghazala and Zara sat down with SFR in their host family’s home to share the story of how they fled from their country and their dreams of paying forward the newfound freedom Santa Feans helped them find.

Adam Ferguson
Ghazala is determined to pursue education to empower the women of Afghanistan.
A Safe Passage
Ghazala’s trek across the globe commenced one year before Zara’s, but the harrowing journey for both began in their birthplace: Bamyan, Afghanistan. Located in the Hazarajat region of the Central and South Asian country, their hometown is known for holding more liberal views than the rest of Afghanistan. Women at one point had access to education and job opportunities. Growing up, Ghazala attended school, played sports and could freely socialize with her friends in public.
Bamyan’s history of tolerance held even more importance to her family because they are of the Shia Muslim faith—known as Hazaras in the Hazarajat region—in a Sunni majority country. Once the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, the Hazaras have been the victims of persecution and a mass genocide dating back to the late 19th century. More recently, Hazarajat fell to the Taliban in 1998 and oppression swallowed up the region. The Taliban isolated Bamyan from the rest of the world, preventing the United Nations from delivering food to the war-torn region. The US-led military campaign into Afghanistan following 9/11 eventually brought Taliban’s occupation to a halt in late 2001, however, the Taliban returned to power 20 years later, bringing back their oppressive treatment of Ghazala and Zara’s hometown starting in 2021.
“Here in the US, when you work hard you get the result and there are so many opportunities for everyone,” Ghazala tells SFR. “In Afghanistan, because of our ethnic background, there are certain jobs you can do and cannot do. And here it is not like that, and I really like that.”
Taliban rule requires women to stay inside unless accompanied by a man, and to wear all-covering veils in public places. Ghazala could no longer attend school or play sports outside with her friends. Her parents and four sisters were forced to leave their life in Bamyan and flee to Kabul, where Ghazala’s father could better plan an escape for his daughters from Afghanistan.
Taliban-occupied Kabul is now prone to raids. Girls between the ages of 13 and 20 pursuing education are at constant risk of being taken from their homes. Once the Taliban regained power in 2021, Ghazala’s father was left with no choice but to sell the family car and other valuables so he could afford to send his daughters abroad. Once being taken became a risk for Ghazala, she began traveling to Pakistan to apply for a US Visa. A year and three applications later, she was bound for New Mexico.
Zara joined Ghazala one year later after spending 14 months in Islamabad waiting for her US student visa. Zara recalls traveling back and forth to Kabul, each time fearing the car might be bombed, and the hardship of a year spent away from her family. Nevertheless, she eventually followed her sister to New Mexico in November of 2023.

Adam Ferguson
Ghazala (left) and Zara share a tight-knit relationship from which they both draw strength.
Community Ties
Santa Feans might know Michelle and Craig McGregor as the couple behind Craft Donuts & Coffee, but the family of five is full of surprises. Besides raising three kids and making donuts, Craig is a licensed pilot and Michelle is the kind of mother who prioritizes exposing their kids to new cultures. When their son came home from Boy Scouts talking about an opportunity to sponsor an Afghan student through his scout leader, an Afghan War veteran, they immediately got involved.
Michelle knew almost nothing about Afghanistan or Muslim culture and traditions prior to the arrival of Ghazala and Zara.
“I don’t even think I could name one person in my life that was Muslim and that really surprised me especially because we live in such a diverse community here.”
Ghazala felt more at home when she arrived in New Mexico than anticipated. “To be honest, the first thing I did when I landed was check my GPS to make sure I was in the US because I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “The mountains and blue sky remind me of Bamyan, and it gave me the feeling I was home.
I love that so much about New Mexico.”
It was a learning curve for all parties, but openness to new culture forged a strong bond between them. The McGregors discovered the warmth and kind-hearted nature of the girls and were eventually able to connect them with a Santa Fean, of Pakistani/Afghan heritage, who introduced them to the local Muslim community.

Adam Ferguson
Santa Fe resident Michelle McGregor hosted Afghan sisters Zara (left) and Ghazala in 2023. The sisters recently visited during the holidays.
Cultural Preservation
Local artist and Muslim Miraj Bukhari-Frayer understands the difficulties of integrating into a new community as a minority. Motivated to find ways to strengthen local diversity, she began helping refugees new to Santa Fe, Bukhari-Frayer helped establish the Santa Fe Refugee Collaborative in partnership with Lutheran Family Services in 2016. Created to advocate for refugees in Northern New Mexico, the group helps source housing, jobs, education and offer any needed support.
The more women and families Bukhari-Frayer met, the more she began asking herself what she could do to help preserve the identities of these women and help their families integrate. As an artist and activist herself, she chose food culture, textiles, art, music and dialog. Two years ago, she founded The Avizeh Collective, a non-profit focused on preserving the heritage and culture of immigrants from South Asia, Middle East and Africa. In 2023, The Avizeh Collective hosted their first series of events Three Cups of Tea. The events included panel discussions with artists, artisans and global ambassadors.
Currently, with the help from local artist and art curator Bobby Beals, Bukhari-Frayer has curated an exhibit on display at the Drury Plaza Hotel, focused on works by South Asian artisans. The exhibit features examples of textile work by Gohar Sajjid, a Pakistani artist and an International Folk Art Market artisan. The exhibit also features dolls crafted with upcycled materials by a group of Afghan women refugees living in Santa Fe. The dolls are currently for sale at local retailers, Indigo Baby and Travelers Market II. Bukhari-Frayer currently helps Afghan mothers work toward long-term sustainability through education and connecting them with the right people to help them reach occupational goals.
“Creating a platform for minority groups is so essential because it also ties in with what’s happening globally. We want people in the community to not feel apprehensive about asking questions, while doing it through an organic means of connectivity and working together collectively,” Bukhari-Frayer says.
Through the Santa Fe Refugee Collaborative, an associate told Bukhari-Frayer about Ghazala’s arrival in Santa Fe and recommended she help with her transition into Santa Fe. At the time, Bukhari-Frayer was hosting an Afghan student attending United World College. Introducing Ghazala to that young woman, who became a role model for Ghazala, was among the ways she served as a support system for Ghazala and Zara during their stay in Santa Fe. Their friendship continues today thanks to the emotional support it provided during such a major life transition.

Adam Ferguson
The Avizeh Collective founder Miraj Bukhari-Frayer creates artwork with themes of culture, heritage and empowerment.
A New Found Freedom
When Ghazala arrived in Santa Fe, the Waldorf school welcomed her as a high school junior. However, the school abruptly shut down in 2023, leaving her without a school. Her student visa requirements afforded Ghazala options in Maryland or California. Washington DC’s prominent Afghan community led her east. After she graduated high school from a Waldorf school in Maryland, Ghazala was accepted into a university on a full scholarship.
Ghazala’s focus is on obtaining a degree and one day returning to her homeland to help liberate the women of Afghanistan. Women like her mother, who is one of Ghazala’s biggest sources of motivation. A successful attorney now in hiding, Ghazala’s mother is unable to continue her practice.
“I feel the most important way to empower women is through becoming educated, developing new skills and starting businesses. If you have your independence, you are free. You can speak out about what is wrong because you have the power and the knowledge,” Ghazala tells SFR.
Zara came to Santa Fe in November of 2023. The shutdown of the Waldorf school meant she had to find a new school and New Mexico was not presenting any options. Zara was welcomed into a school in New Hampshire where she currently attends high school. Zara hoped to bring her 4.0 GPA back to Santa Fe next year and attend United World College but was denied enrollment. Zara’s real dream, however, is to some day become a pilot. It’s a dream that briefly became a reality during her time in Santa Fe when Craig McGregor took her on a flight and gave her a chance to fly the plane.
With a harrowing journey behind them and big dreams on the horizon, the girls remain thankful for the help and assistance Santa Fe provided. The family they found in the McGregor home and the support from The Avizeh Collective founder Bukhari-Frayer was critical to their transition. The most important resource Ghazala has found since arriving in the US is hope.
“I love how diverse it is and the freedom everyone has. Everyone has the freedom of choosing their own life and own path. Everyone can choose what religion they practice, and it doesn’t impact social connections, it’s just something you do for yourself,” Ghazala shares.
Challenges do persist for the girls, big and small. The standard American diet doesn’t align with how Ghazala was raised. Her parents prioritized nutrition and a healthy diet of vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, fruits, locally raised meat and homemade yogurt. But ultra-processed foods pale in comparison to the biggest challenge.
“The hardest thing about leaving Afghanistan, I think, is … you leave your family, friends and community and all your childhood memories behind,” Ghazala tells SFR. “But really the hardest part is the internal conflict you have with yourself. Your heart desires to be with your family, but your mind thinks of your future.”
Zara echoed her sister, telling SFR she most enjoys the freedom to be who you want without being forced to do something or be someone you don’t want to be.
Now, as Ghazala thinks of her future with the freedom to pursue her goals and her headscarf packed away, she’s on a path of independence for herself and her mother:
“I’ve always wanted to do something for my people, towards equality and towards peace,” she shares.
Whatever challenges may arise, she’ll face them without the fear of having to hide herself from the world.