On May 1, Hamid Wahedy spoke to the Derryfield school community about how he and his family managed to escape from Afghanistan in August of 2021. Mr. Wahedy grew up in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, and worked closely with US forces in the country from 2015 to 2021. As the Taliban seized control of his country, Mr. Wahedy, along with his wife and two young children, narrowly escaped capture, left all their possessions behind, and traveled 260 miles to reach Kabul Airport. They were eventually extracted from the crowd of thousands surrounding the airport, thanks to the help of a US Army veteran who spent 21 hours on the phone with Wahedy, talking him through every step of the dangerous journey. Mr. Wahedy’s presentation was made possible by the E. Charles Sanborn Visiting Fellow Fund.
Click to view excerpts from the speech.
