Many Roads to Here: Pioneering Pilot Breaks Barriers

Join us this Sunday, March 3rd at 4pm for Many Roads to Here, a production of The Immigrant Story, capturing the immigrant experience in the U.S. through monthly profiles. Voices from across the globe offer intimate accounts of immigration, war, genocide, and success. Listen live at 99.1 FM in the heart of Portland – or online anywhere at PRP.fm.

As a young woman growing up in a conservative society, Safia Ferozi overcame intense expectations and restrictions placed on women  to become Afghanistan’s second female Air Force pilot. Before her country and her life were turned upside down, she was a trailblazing commander, leading an Air Force squadron of 200. Safia was forced to flee when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Now she is one of 250 Afghan pilots grounded in the U.S., no longer able to fly.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. This episode was produced by Elayna Yussen, with audio editing by Gregg Palmer and executive producer Sankar Raman.

This episode was funded through a generous contribution from Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation. We’d like to thank Salem for Refugees for connecting us with Safia and letting us use their space to record this interview, which took place in March of 2023.

Original post written by Elayna Yussen.