Photography by Peter Van agtmael In the early morning hours in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, Farshad Khairy (left) helps his older brother, Dost Mohammad Khairy, prepare for the day.

When PHOENIX magazine contributor Jessica Wanke worked at The Arizona Republic in 2003, she covered a story about a young Afghan man in his late 20s living in Phoenix. His name is Dost Mohammad Khairy, and he fled Afghanistan during Taliban violence and came to the U.S. as a refugee shortly after September 11, 2001. The U.S. government resettled him in Glendale, Arizona, where he has been living since.

In May, Dost returned to Afghanistan for the first time since he fled, and Jessica traveled with him. He visited family members in Kabul, met up with his bride-to-be in Mazar-i-Sharif, and visited with several patients of the Red Cross Hospital there.

As a paralyzed man, Dost can relate to these patients. Their disabilities create unique challenges in a war-torn country, and Dost is determined to fight for their dignity, not only by listening to their individual plights but by starting a non-profit here in Arizona, called the Afghan Friends Rehabilitation Center. To learn more about the center, click here: www.friends-rc.org.

Pick up a copy of PHOENIX magazine’s October issue to learn how Dost is battling for a better way of life for the disabled. To view a map of Dost’s hometown in Afghanistan, click here: