This past Wednesday the Global Engagement ARC had a guest speaker from Afghanistan. He talked to us about his immigration process from Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in his country. There were many topics he covered that were immensely interesting. He shared many of his experiences and lent an eye to the ways that immigrants try to find a safe and warm home away from their home country.

 

Our speaker spoke for a while about how it was important for him to get out of his comfort zone, he didn’t have the option not to leave so he was forced out of his comfort zone. It was cool how he talked about moving around the world from multiple different countries, you don’t know where you’re going to land, or where the most resources will be available to you. For our guest speaker, it was here in Eugene, but it took him a while to get here in Eugene. He spoke on the fact that he spent months in Brazil, and some time in North Carolina, all before getting to Eugene. I also appreciated his short stories about the Pan-American highway. As someone who had commuted up from Brazil to the U.S., it was fascinating to hear a little bit about his travels. I think a lot of people don’t understand the length at which immigrants have traveled, and that most migrants don’t come to the U.S. at first.

 

It was heartbreaking to hear that he still has family in Afghanistan who have to deal with the Taliban and political turmoil. He shared about his sister who is unable to continue her education because of the laws that have been put in place. This goes to show how close to heart these policies and laws are for people we interact with on a day-to-day basis. 

 

Overall, this guest speaker was incredibly inspiring and I really enjoyed the little snippets of his life story he shared.