Afghan Dental Relief Project Workers Sequestered in Kabul, Awaiting Evacuation
Employees of Santa Barbara–Founded Dental Program Are Waiting in Afghanistan for Visas to Be Processed
The 20-year war in Afghanistan seems to finally be coming to an end, at no small cost to the Afghan people. The viral videos of citizens clinging to planes as they take off, babies being passed to soldiers over barbed wire, and tens of thousands of people running through the streets to escape the Taliban have become the poster images of the longest war in American history.
Among the thousands trying to leave are employees of a dental relief group founded in Santa Barbara known as the Afghan Dental Relief Project (ADRP), which has about 25 employees sequestered in Kabul, waiting to be evacuated. Many in the group are with their families, which makes the total group number around 50 people, according to Dr. James Rolfe, the ADRP founder who is currently working out of his office in Santa Barbara.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Rolfe, who created ADRP back in 2008 to provide critical dental care that would otherwise not be available.
