The Afghan-Interpreter

The story is based on the diary notes kept by a young 30 year-old Afghan man who grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, a city ubiquitously subjected to terror attacks over the last 20 years. The story taps into the ongoing struggle of this young father trying to build a decent family life and career in a war-torn country. Thrown in the midst of a struggle between tribal dominance of the Taliban culture over different Afghan factions and a fledgling democracy, his constant unease stirs him on to keep looking
for a better life. Living on borrowed time before the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, he steers through a series of possible options to get out of this stalemate. His life is one that swings on a pendulum from straight-out elimination across to desperate survival. The odds were high but so was his determination to achieve his goal. The young man’s story provides a powerful insight into the mind of an Afghan motivated by hope
and a vision that his beloved country would become a place where he and his family could be safe and free to express their views and receive a decent education. He had worked in key roles supporting the Afghan central government and the NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan. With a NATO led coalition, it all seemed well on the surface, but the political undercurrents rife with corruption were undermining the effort and sacrifice many were making. He takes the reader on a journey through life as he deals with threats, corruption and cultural sensitivities while balancing family needs, his own morals and survival. He reflects on his desperation as the Taliban advanced across Afghanistan in mid-2021, the chaos during evacuations and the relief of getting his family to safety. Weighing him down was the overwhelming sadness of losing the home he built and leaving behind his country and culture, possibly never to come back. In spite of all this, he takes a massive leap of faith to seek a new country that guarantees him and his family a safe haven, a just reward for
working hard and retaining his dignity as a human being.