Here are 5 things you should know about me:
1.I’m Afghan-Canadian. That’s another way of saying I’m from Afghanistan, but I live in Canada. I love my culture, my history and my motherland. Unfortunately, I can’t visit it or go back to it because of the political turmoil that’s been going on for decades, but I’m hoping to be part of the generation which sees my motherland finally find peace.
2. For now, I’m a fresh University graduate (hello real world!) with a little bit of knowledge on International Development. My aspirations mostly consist of doing development work in Afghanistan, and travelling the world while I’m at it.
3. My story began when I visited Afghanistan as a bright eyed, clueless 12 year old and realized there’s more to life than what I had known. When I came back to Canada from that trip, I couldn’t stop talking about it, writing about it, thinking about it. I like to think that trip is what led me to want to study international development in my later years.
4. Fast-forward to 10 years later and I’m a fourth-year university student, packing for her first experience of living abroad alone. My suitcase and passport took me to Kerala, India for an internship at the Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation. I spent ten months learning, observing, reflecting, researching, travelling, making life-long friends and mostly eating, but I didn’t write. I want to do that now.
Living in India made me realize that travelling wasn’t just fun for me, it was a passion. I want to learn about the world we live in, immerse myself in hands-on knowledge, and fall in love with cities and places and memories.
5. After successfully completing my thesis paper for my bachelor’s degree requirement (and losing my mind in the process), I realized I wanted to keep writing about my experiences, and I wanted to continue learning and reflecting on the world, even if I didn’t have to do it for a degree anymore.
Which brings us to the present, with me sitting at home in quarantine, during the Corona virus era, having decided to make better use of my time (I need a break from staring at walls anyways) and cluelessly typing away at my laptop, hoping that this will be able to lead me somewhere.
Onwards!
Travelling Afghan 