Local Dentist Sponsors Afghan Immigrant Family

By Dr. James Rolfe

Hello, I would like to introduce myself. My name is James Rolfe and I am a Santa Barbara dentist. For the last 18 years, I have been building clinics and training technicians in Afghanistan. Recently the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, and most of my staff have been trying, with our help, to leave and resettle in other countries.

I am helping one Afghan immigrant family to come to Santa Barbara from Kabul, Afghanistan. Above is a photo of our class of dental hygienists from 2011. The woman on the right, Shukria Akhlaqi, graduated as a dental hygienist from my technical school, and is bringing her family to Santa Barbara and will be working with me in my dental office on Patterson Avenue. She is married with three children, and I am helping her by looking for a place for her and her family to live. She has an exceptionally fine character, so I can recommend her as a considerate and responsible person.

She is a member of the Hazaras, an ethnic group in Afghanistan descended from the Mongol invader of Afghanistan Ghengis Khan. The Taliban are now in power in Afghanistan, and they are Pashtuns, the indigenous ethnic group traditionally in Afghanistan, and the Hazaras are the sworn enemy of the Pashtuns.

Following the explosion of a Taliban car bomb near a Hazara girl’s school recently that killed dozens of Hazara girls, she decided to get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible, and she recently arrived in Washington, DC as an immigrant, along with her family. She will be coming soon to Santa Barbara to work in my dental office, and I am seeking anyone who can provide her and her family with housing. Please contact me personally if you have any options or ideas. My office is on Patterson Avenue in western Santa Barbara.

James G. Rolfe, DDS    email: adrp@verizon.net  phone: 805-963-2329

Afghanistan Dental Relief Project  website: http://www.adrpinc.org A 501C3 non-profit