Afghan Refugee, Activist Reflects On Journey And Work Ahead Of UT-Arlington Speech

Arlington TX

29 March, 2022

7:20 PM

Description

By Sandra Sadek, Fort Worth Report March 28, 2022 When Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, 2021, the first thing Roshan Mashal did was take down all the photos of high-profile Afghan women, activists and achievements on all three floors of the Afghan Women's Network office. Mashal was the last person to leave the office that day. What should have been a 15-minute ride home took four hours as panicked people rushed to their houses. A normal day in the office suddenly turned into what Mashal described as a "big trauma." "I was thinking how I could manage as a leader of my office," said Mashal, who served as a deputy director at the time. "I just thought I should do something to take care of everyone, not just me." Only three days later, Mashal, her husband and their five children fled Kabul and traveled for several days before landing in the United States on Aug. 23, 2021. Mashal, now a Texas International Education Consortium fellow, is set to share her experience and what the fall of Afghanistan means for girls in the country during an event at the University of Texas at Arlington on March 30. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.