Notice Board

The Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) presents a session describing the long and difficult journey of Mahdi Taheri as he successfully found his way out of Afghanistan thanks to the incredible help of his wife, Canadian politicians and a cast of others.

The Difficult Journey out of Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover

Thursday, May 26, 2022 – 12 to 1 p.m. MDT

YouTube Live link:  https://youtu.be/bcOZbdPFy_o

Mahdi Taheri will share his journey crossing the gate as Afghanistan fell and the events leading up to his escape. He will also cover current events, what to believe and what not to believe, as well as his processing times and integration into the United States and then into Canada.  Taheri’s brother, who is still in Abu Dhabi, has been left behind from the NGO that brought him out. Jennel will share her own journey of desperation in finding ways to get Mahdi out of the country with the assistance of Canadian politicians, as well as her involvement with the evacuation of other Afghans and their procurement of special immigrant visas.

Speakers:   Mahdi and Jennel Taheri

Mahdi and Jennel Taheri met six years ago through a high school friend who deployed four times to Afghanistan for the United States military.  It was through a friend of a friend on social media, who brought this unlikely pair together. Mahdi spent many years serving as a combat Interpreter and cultural linguist for the US Special Forces after serving 11 years in an Afghan Special Forces Unit. After narrowly escaping the Taliban’s initial attempt to take over his hometown of Herat, Mahdi was able to secure a seat on the last flight out of his city for Kabul. Jennel worked in the oil and gas industry for many years. She also owned a gym in a small town in BC. Mahdi and Jennel are now married, and he is in Canada having crossed the border on April 11th. He is settling into life in northern BC with friends, family and a community that has pulled together to support him. Jennel is in the process of joining the BC ambulance service as a paramedic and Mahdi will soon open a small engine repair shop.

To ask questions of our speaker in the chat feature of YouTube, you must have a YouTube account and be signed in. Please do so well ahead of the scheduled start time, so you’ll be ready. Go the YouTube Live link provided in this session flyer and on the top right of your browser click the “sign in” button. If you have Google or Gmail accounts, they can be used to sign in. If you don’t, click “Create Account” and follow along. Once you are signed in, you can return to the live stream and use the chat feature to ask your questions of the speaker. Remember you can only participate in the chat feature while we are livestreaming.

Link to SACPA’s YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/c/SouthernAlbertaCouncilonPublicAffairs

For further information on the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, visit the SACPA website.