Afghan boy, 10, makes 12-day journey to meet his adoptive parents in Florida - after being turned away from Kabul airport by the Taliban and witnessing gunshots and a deadly stampede
A ten-year-old Afghan is now home safe in Florida with his adoptive parents after a years-long adoption process that almost got derailed by the country's Taliban takeover.
Ten-year-old Noman Mujtaba was turned away from the airport by the Taliban and forced to witness violence and deadly stampedes before he endured an arduous 12-day journey from Kabul to Broward County, Florida.
Bahaudin Mujtaba, 55, and his wife, Lisa, 54, spent five years trying to officially adopt and take in Norman, a distant relative, and had nearly finished the process when the Taliban came in.
But thanks to a lucky break with an American who was in Kabul and the help of American service members, Bahaudin says that they're experience 'a great feeling of joy' to finally be a family while Norman adjusts to American life and has a bedroom to himself for the first time.
Home! Bahaudin Mujtaba and his wife, Lisa, spent five years drying to adopt Norman, a distant relative whose mother died of cancer — and now the little boy is finally with them in Florida
Journey: Norman (pictured in Qatar) endured a 12-day journey with stops in two other countries after getting out of Kabul on a military plane
Exciting! Norman first landed in Washington, D.C. and then traveled to Florida, where he met his adoptive mother Lisa for the first time
Bahaudin and Lisa could not have any biological children, so several years ago, they looked into adoption. They soon came to know about Norman, a distant relative whose cousin is married to Bahaudin's father's cousin.
Norman's mother had died of cancer, and his father is old and unable to care for him, so Norman had been staying with other family members for years.
Bahaudin traveled to Afghanistan in 2016, where he met Norman for the first time.
'He was very energetic and very talkative, and I fell in love with his personality right then at the time,' Bahaudin told NBC News.
'He was extremely bright in discussing why he would want to come to the United States and what he loves about the United States and has seen in movies and cartoon shows,' he added to NBC Miami.
Bahaudin, a professor at Nova Southeastern University who emigrated from Afghanistan 40 years ago and holds dual citizenship, went back to visit ten times over the years.
But the adoption process wasn't easy. According to the AP, Afghanistan prefers to have children adopted by people who are originally from Afghanistan themselves, and who are also practicing Muslins. Just 41 Afghan children were adopted by families in the US from 1999 and 2019.
Corruption made the process take a particularly long time, but Bahaudin said it was '90 percent done' when the Taliban takeover suddenly made completing the adoption much harder.
As Afghanistan's government collapsed and Americans fled the county, Bahaudin said it was 'heart-wrenching' that they were unable to tell the boy when he'd finally get to come live with them.
An American man in Kabul helped get Norman out, but Taliban security denied them entry to the airport on their first attempt
Cozy: Norman witnessed gunshots, fighting, violence, and a deadly stampede at the airport — but he is now home where he has his own bed and bedroom for the first time
Speaking to NBC News two weeks ago, Bahaudin said Norman was 'very nervous' and there was 'a lot of fear' about what would happen next.
'And he’s at that age where he doesn’t want to miss school. Everything is shut down right now. And that’s what the fear he was expressing to me over the phone,' he said.
Luckily, though, there was an American man from Indiana also in Afghanistan who was there awaiting a visa to bring home his own adopted son.
The man, whom the Mujtabas had never met, agreed to help bring Norman to the US. Mary Beth King, the director of the Frank Adoption Center in Wake Forest, North Carolina, which assisted both families with their adoptions, told Stars and Stripes that the boys would not have gotten out without him.
There were hiccups. First, Norman had to get through Taliban security. On his first attempt, he was denied entry.
'They had to basically abandon that attempt of getting inside the airport, and after 14 hours, they went home. Stayed overnight, and the next day they tried again,' Bahaudin told NBC Miami.
The Taliban let him through on his second attempt, but the little boy didn't make it through without witnessing carnage.
'My son did mention the Taliban were firing bullets into the air to disperse the crowd and he was just meters away from that, so there was a lot of pushing, shoving, and people running away and people getting stepped on, and unfortunately during the stampede, many people did get injured and did die,' Bahaudin said.
Persistent: Bahaudin had visited Norman several times over the years as they waited for the adoption to go through
'He said there was fighting, there was violence. There was pushing and shoving that was scary that was fearful,' he added to CBS 12 News.
Finally, on August 28, he ended up on a military plane out of Kabul — where 'everybody was packed like sardines close together.'
'He mentioned the conditions were very bad. They didn’t have air conditioning. There was one restroom for hundreds of people, so people had to wait an hour or longer just to use the bathroom,' Bahaudin said.
All in all, the journey to the US took 12 days. Norman first flew from Kabul to Qatar, then to Germany before finally traveling stateside.
Halfway around the world, Bahaudin and his wife were anxiously awaiting news, and would go days without updates because the traveling group would lose WiFi or phone power.
'The waiting during 25-30 hours was anxiety-producing, very stressful, and very challenging because you don't know when how or where they will fly out,' Bahaudin said.
'Oftentimes, I would be looking at the television, and the reporting of newspapers and journalists providing some visuals, hoping to see a glimpse of him being okay. So, these worries do go through your mind, and it, unfortunately, is challenging to deal with,' he told Spectrum's Bay News 9.
Then, earlier this week, Norman finally landed in Washington, D.C., where he was reunited with Bahaudin and met Bahaudin's wife, his new adoptive mother, for the first time.
Family: Norman is a distant relative of the Mujtabas. His mother died of cancer and his father is elderly and unable to care for him
'We’re very lucky and appreciative of all the people who have helped us get to this point,' Bahaudin said
'When he came to Florida, he said, this is America. So I think maybe the fact he was so close to his mom finally he feels he was home,' Bahaudin said.
At his new home, Noman has his own room and bed for the first time.
'He was pleased, happy, and [it's] a pleasant experience to hear noise in that room and it's not quiet the way it always has been over the last three years,' said Bahaudin, who had set up the room years ago while they awaited his arrival.
'So the fact he's there, making noise and in his room, that's a feeling I don't know how to describe,' he added.
The boy has been happily adapting to American life and loves chicken and swimming in a pool, which he had never done before.
He is still adjusting, and Bahaudin says Norman is still worried about friends and family back in Afghanistan.
But he and his wife are happy to have gotten him out and are thankful to everyone who made it possible.
'We’re very lucky and appreciative of all the people who have helped us get to this point,' he said.
'Especially all the service members that sacrificed much of their family time to go to Afghanistan and obviously 13 of our service members who made the ultimate sacrifice to evacuate 120,000 Afghans and Americans in Afghanistan.'
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