March 7 - Club Meeting

The Club welcomed former club member Vern Moore, as well as frequent guest Irene Meinen. The guest speaker was Yazdan Bakhsh. He discussed his book "You'll Be My Son Joe" which chronicles his journey from Afghanistan to the United States.

 

Mr. Bakhsh was born in the mountains of Afghanistan and was part of the Hazara culture. It was a culture that was persecuted by the Taliban.  The book tells his journey from leaving Afghanistan to working in Lebanon as an informant for the United States embassy that supplied information about the local drug trade. However, when war erupted in Lebanon, he received help from the UN special projects manager Mr. Simpkins who ended up bringing him to Minnesota.  In Minnesota, Yazdan attended high school and eventually earned his United State Citizenship. He greatly appreciates the freedom that is afforded to him in the United States and gives back through his work with the organization Green Card Voices.