Story highlights Nimo Hashi and her husband fled civil war in Somalia

They have been apart for nearly three years, and he has never met their 2-year-old daughter

Salt Lake City (CNN) Nimo Hashi feels like a single mother -- even though she's been married for more than three years.

Hashi, 24, is a Somali refugee raising her 2-year-old daughter alone, working nights in a Utah factory that makes sports drinks. The last time she saw her husband was in 2014, in the Ethiopian refugee camp where they ended up after fleeing civil war in Somalia.

Nimo Hashi hopes her husband will be able to meet their 2-year-old daughter on Friday.

Hashi gained approval that year to come to America; her husband, 29-year-old Abdelsalam Ahmed, did not -- he'd have to wait years for his application to clear. With Hashi pregnant, the two decided she should travel ahead to the United States without him, always believing they'd be reunited.

"I imagine a couple living together in happiness," Hashi told CNN through a translator. "With my husband helping me raise the family."

Nearly three years later, Hashi's dream for a complete family was about to come true: Ahmed was coming to America to reunite with his wife and meet his daughter Taslim.

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