Our community of faith joined others in a week-long blitz build for Habitat for Humanity’s Build for Unity over the first week of February 2022!
Here’s a story of one of the families we worked alongside who will soon be moving into their new home…
For as long as they can remember, Syed and Nafeesa lived in constant fear of what the future held for their family. In their home country of Pakistan, their beliefs as members of a more liberal sect of Islam made them targets of extremist movements. As leaders in their community, the family advocated for the rights of women and girls to receive educations and worked hard to fight for better quality of life for their daughters. A professor of art and design, Syed even used his life’s savings to create an institution of computer literacy for girls – until one night in 2013, when extremists set fire to the building, and he lost everything overnight. After his family endured violent attacks of terrorism that left his brother severely injured and cost his cousin his life, Syed knew he had to find a way to get his family to safety.
Syed sought asylum in the United States and worked tirelessly for 4 and a half years to bring his wife and children to join him – years that Syed calls the “worst time of my life and their lives”. After the long years of navigating painstaking paperwork, working jobs both night and day to feed himself and his family back in Pakistan, and an excruciating 15 day wait following his asylum interview, Syed received the news that his family could finally join him. “The day they arrived in San Francisco, that was the day I got my life back.”
Since then, the family of 7 has lived in a 1-bedroom apartment in Sacramento, where they struggle with pest invasions and violence that occurs just outside their front door. Though both Syed and Nafeesa hold jobs as cell phone technicians (with Nafeesa only taking time off with the birth of their new daughter), Sacramento’s severe lack of affordable housing combined with skyrocketing rents mean the tiny apartment is all they can afford. Still, they are together, and they are free from brutal attacks on their lives – and for that the family is grateful.
When Syed heard about Habitat from a coworker and Habitat homeowner, he realized that homeownership might actually be possible for his family – and everything changed. He recalls the day they received that fateful call from Habitat, a day that “opened a whole new universe” for his family when they learned they had been accepted into Habitat’s homeownership program. “We will always remember those moments,” he says – and it just keeps getting better.
Syed, Nafeesa, and their 16-year-old son have each been working on the construction site to contribute to their 500 hours of sweat equity. With a sense of pride and empowerment, they are excited to be a part of building the community where they will live. With every swing of the hammer, their visions of the future become clearer. A safe, stable home and an affordable mortgage on the horizon allow Syed and Nafeesa to focus more energy on their children. They look forward to spending more quality time together as a family, taking the time to discuss ideas and explore their children’s dreams for the future – dreams like attending college, that suddenly now feel within reach.
On Christmas Day, Syed and Nafeesa took their 5 children to Mandolin Estates to walk the neighborhood where they are building their home. Together, they envisioned their lives there – with optimism, hope, and without the fear of the future which had plagued them for so long. The family is overwhelmed and honored by the outpouring of support from Habitat volunteers and donors on this journey. To Syed, it’s a force so powerful it can be felt in his heart and in the bones of the house itself. “I feel that there is love in the foundation of this home.”
Naqvi family children: Syed Muhammad Taha (son, 16 ½), Naima Batool (daughter, 15), Syed Ali Ibraheem (son, 10), Runman Naqvi (daughter, 7), Faiqa Naqvi (daughter, 6 months)
