Friday, January 9, 2009

Trading A Life In Vegas To Speak For Troops In Afghanistan

Torpekay Farhamg: An Afghan who came to the US at 14, she now interprets for US troops in Afghanistan. Photo by Danna Harman

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Some 250 US citizens of Afghan origin have made unlikely career changes to become military interpreters.

Kalagush Forward Operating Base, Afghanistan - It's a long way from Vegas.

For the past three years, Torpekay (Peggy) Farhamg, a longtime security guard and dealer at the strip's Imperial Palace, has been living behind concertina wire with American troops in Afghanistan. Ahmadullah Barak, who until recently was a used-car salesman at his cousin's dealership in Jamaica Heights is here, too, daydreaming about a slice of New York thin-slice pizza.

The two are among some 250 American citizens of Afghan origin who have made unlikely career changes and become Pashto or Dari military interpreters here – working as intermediaries between foreign troops and the locals they meet, collaborate with, and fight against – and making big bucks along the way.

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