Hired a little short of two months ago as the first Afghan community navigator, Nasir Ahmad described his experience so far as “awesome.”

The new city position was created to deal with the recent influx of hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan brought here through the International Center of Bowling Green.

His typical day consists of having appointments with Afghan families to find out whether they have any problems with housing, as well as provide them with useful resources for driving or English as a Second Language classes, Ahmad said.

Having started this job May 23, he has received training from Leyda Becker, international communities liaison of Bowling Green, and begun working on several projects.

One of such projects was a recent event devoted to the culture and history of Afghanistan. Ahmad said he is planning on organizing the event again at a place with a larger audience capacity.

One of the challenges Ahmad said he started facing as an Afghan community navigator is having to learn an “overwhelming” amount of information to be able to pass it on to the community. He added that he is happy he is overcoming them.

Ahmad said that since starting the new job, he is “proud of being a point of contact.”

He said he strives to help bridge the gap between the Afghan community and the rest of Bowling Green.

His ultimate goal, Ahmad said, is to “see over 400 Afghans who came to Bowling Green fully resettled, employed and positioned to fully function.”

Ahmad also pointed out that providing Afghans with resources that would get them to a good level of English comprehension is an important task.

Ahmad worked as a senior interpreter and a reviser with the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission and later as a translator and a senior interpreter with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Overall, Ahmad served the governments of Afghanistan and the United States for the last 10 years.

Ahmad’s position is temporary and was created through a $150,000 grant from the Open Society Foundation to support Afghans who have been resettled in Bowling Green.