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Expectant parents Mosa Sadat and Laila Mohammadi open gifts together at a community shower in Branford on Saturday, July 16.

Expectant parents Mosa Sadat and Laila Mohammadi were all smiles as they opened gifts at a community shower in Branford on Saturday, July 16.

Enjoying the pizza and comraderie at the baby shower for Afghan refugees, Laila Mohammadi and Mosa Sadat, are from left, Jill Jensen, Mohammadi, Janet Hartwell and Beverly Willis. July 16

Enjoying the comraderie at the baby shower for Afghan refugees, Laila Mohammadi and Mosa Sadat, are from left, shower coordinator Tracey Scheer, Sadat and Mohammadi.

Expectant parents Mosa Sadat and Laila Mohammadi open gifts together at a community shower in Branford on Saturday, July 16.

BRANFORD — There were lots of smiles, laughter as some 20 people gathered on the lawn of the First Congregational Church Saturday to shower a newly-relocated Afghan couple awaiting the arrival of their baby girl.

With their daughter, Lea, due on Aug. 2, volunteer Tracey Scheer organized the July 16 baby shower.

“I have many kind people around me,” said the mother-to-be, Laila Mohammadi.

“I love everyone,” the 29-year-old said with a big smile.

Mohammadi and her husband, Mosa Sadat, relocated to Branford March 31 after fleeing war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan in August 2021.

For the past year and a half, Helping Families Settle worked in collaboration with New Haven’s Integrated Refugee & Immigration Services to relocate an Afghan family, not knowing at the time who it would be.

IRIS, a nonprofit organization, helps refugees and other displaced people establish new lives in Connecticut. Branford’s efforts are an example of IRIS’ community sponsorship.

As Scheer looked at the group gathered at the shower and gifts piled high on a table nearby, she talked about the community’s commitment.

“It just tells me that this community has got a big heart,” she said. “There’s just a whole bunch of really amazing people who live in our community. They will come out and support someone because these are folks, they left their family, they left their friends, there’s nothing to support them here.”

The Branford resident added, “They’re showing her the support that she should be getting if she were home, from her family and friends.

Mohammadi said relocating has been overwhelming at times.

“I was scared at first,” she said.

“ ‘What should I do, I’m so alone,’ ” she remembered saying to herself. “’I’m in America, a different culture and different people, what should I do?’”

“But everything is going well,” she said, sitting at a table covered in a bright pink tablecloth enjoying her cheese pizza.

Sadat has been working as a carpenter with Branford’s MN Reale since May and also works with Turquoise Mountain, an artisan group featuring woodworkers, rug makers and weavers, calligraphers, potters and ceramists.

Turquoise Mountain with workers in four different countries in the Middle East, features craftspeople “who do really high end, refined work,” Noe said. The Prince of Wales is a “Royal Founding Patron” and brands such as Kate Spade and New Haven rug merchant Kebabian’s offer their wares.

“Mosa has been with Turquoise Mountain for more than half his life,” Noe said. “Mosa’s 27 — he’s been with Turquoise Mountain since he was 13.” She noted that Mohammadi is “a self-taught painter.”

“Laila is not working currently and probably won’t until well after the baby is born,” added Noe.

The American baby shower was a very different experience for the parents-to-be, who explained that the Afghan tradition is to celebrate the couple and their baby after the birth.

“Some gifts and some Afghan food,” and “people dancing and music,” said Mohammadi.

The Branford shower feted the couple with a pizza party, Mohammadi’s favorite food.

As she sat enjoying her pizza, she was all smiles talking about the shower.

“It’s very kind, very nice,” she said.

She said while Sadat has some family in California, they do not have any family nearby.

“I wish my family was here,” said Mohammadi. “I will talk to them and describe the day I have today.”

Alexis Cable attended the shower with her 10-month-old son, Scott.

A Guilford resident, Cable, saw the information about the shower on social media. She arrived with a gift of a baby swaddle, baby wipes, a breast-feeding pump and a stuffed toy rabbit.

Cable said she understands how Mohammadi feels.

“I’m a new mom and I’m also a Coast Guard wife, so I know what it feels like to be a new parent and to be in a new place, by yourself without family,” she said.

“I just wanted to meet her and maybe be a support, if she wanted that, if she needs it,” she said.

The expectant mother said Helping Families Settle volunteers have become like family and are “kind.”

The weather was a mild 85 degrees as the couple sat under a large shade tree and opened gifts one at a time, together.

There were blankets, clothes, a case of diapers, a combination swing and bouncy chair, a stroller and car seat combination, a baby hairbrush and thermometer and books.

State Rep. Robin Comey (D-Branford), a volunteer and the landlord for the couple, sat nearby reading the cards and making a list of all the gifts.

Mosa was beaming after opening the all the gifts.

“I like it, it’s beautiful,” the father-to-be said. “I am so happy.”

In addition to the gifts the couple opened at the shower, additional baby items were donated via an Amazon wish list and money was collected through a GoFundMe account

The Amazon account is “laila sadat baby registry.” The GoFundMe page GIFT Card for new BABY of Refugee Family is still accepting donations.

One of the gifts the couple opened was a $1,000 check from the GoFundMe account.

Clapping filled the air when the amount was announced. But there were more gifts to come.

The couple was welcomed to town with a fully furnished house. They are currently in the United States with a parolee visa.

“IRIS works with the government, to work with Laila and Mosa, to work on the process if their desire is to become citizens,” said volunteer Jill Jensen.

“We already had housing,” said Laura Noe, Branford-based Helping Families Settle leader and coordinator.

In addition to the fully furnished house, Noe said, “We had done a lot of fundraising, so we’ve got money in the bank for them. Filled the fridge with food and then, how that they’ve arrived, we are charged with helping them settle.”

Comey said the group will continue to work with the couple.

“We’ve been offering support her and Mosa whenever they need it,” she said.

The group continues to work with the couple, including looking for more affordable housing. Their new home is temporary and the rent is the market rate, $1,750 a month for a two bedroom house, according to Comey.

“We are struggling, because the rent is very high,” Noe said. “We’re looking for affordable housing.”

Jensen smiled as sat next to Mohammadi.

“I think it’s a wonderful way for the community to demonstrate their acceptance and enthusiasm to have Laila and Mosa in our community and to welcome them and their new baby and help them to really have a good start as a family,” she said. “It demonstrates that the people in Branford are very willing to step up and help others.”