Over 300 million people worldwide are celebrating Nowruz this year, marking the Persian new year and the start of Spring at the exact moment of the Spring equinox. The United Nations has praised Nowruz for promoting “peace and solidarity” among the many nations who celebrate it.
In Afghanistan, Nowruz culminates on the first day of the Afghan New Year, March 21, and is one of the biggest celebrations of the year for many Afghan families. Many Afghan families, including some recently resettled into the United States through Church World Service (CWS), will celebrate Nowruz for the second time outside of Afghanistan this year. Since 2021, over 77,000 Afghans have arrived in the United States with a two-year parole period, with some receiving long-term status and others still waiting.
CWS and its partners have worked closely with the Afghans in the U.S. and share in the joy of Nowruz as current and former clients celebrate hope and optimism. According to our Afghan clients, Nowruz brings families together with their wider community. The preparation for Nowruz begins a week earlier, with schools breaking for the semester and families thoroughly cleaning their homes, including vacuuming and washing floors, cleaning carpets, walls, and furniture. This thorough cleaning symbolizes washing off the old season and welcoming the new season with a fresh, clean home.
Every year is a new beginning full of hope, marked by putting up the Haf-sin, the seven symbolic items that start with the letter “s.” These items include the senjed fruit for love, vinegar for wisdom, age, and patience, and coins for prosperity and good fortune.
“Nowruz is not complete without the Hafta Mewa,” said our former client Husna. This is the most popular drink of Nowruz, made from the seven fruits: red raisins, black raisins, yellow raisins, dried apple, dried apricots, cherries, and nuts such as walnuts, pistachios, and almonds. Husna and her siblings always spent time peeling the fruits, soaking them in liquid overnight to create a delightful, sweet mixture.
“Nowruz is also not complete without the entire family gathering,” added Husna. This is the second year Husna will be celebrating Nowruz away from her mother and father due to the war and conflict that separated them. However, the memories of past Nowruz celebrations bring them together.
One of Husna’s favorite parts of Nowruz was the girls’ night out, or the samanak party, where women or girls get together to prepare a special sweet dish made from wheat germ. The process takes a whole night, filled with singing, dancing, and laughter until sunrise. People then emerge from their houses dressed in colorful clothes to spend the day sharing food and wishing each other peace and love. Husna and her family often walked to the local farmers’ market to buy vegetables to support the farmers, as Nowruz is also a day to help one another.
Husna arrived in the U.S. in 2021 with the help of CWS and is currently a speaker, caregiver, and employee at the National Resource on Domestic Violence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.