Born in the bustling city of Karachi, Pakistan, Sarah moved with her family to Kuwait when she was two years old. She was with her mother visiting family in Pakistan, when life in this sleepy desert country changed in the summer of 1990 with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. History records this period as the “Gulf War”, a victorious time for those whose political agendas were achieved at the expense of a paltry few… thousands. This was a particularly harrowing experience for a little girl at risk of losing her father in the crossfire. Miraculously, after months of no contact her father finally reunited with the family. Whenever despondency overcomes her, Sarah reminds herself of this difficult time in her life and centres herself with gratitude.
From sandstorms to snowstorms, from plus 50 C to minus 30 C, Sarah has adjusted well to life in Calgary since moving here from Kuwait in 1997. Having pursued her BA in Economics and English at the University of Calgary, Sarah is looking to combine her love for activism and writing through citizen journalism. Fortunately as Program Assistant at the Consortium for Peace Studies, she is never lacking in inspiration meeting esteemed rabble-rousers from around the world. Her commitment to Project Ploughshares Calgary, as well as the Calgary Centre for Global Community also affords her this opportunity.
Presently, the relentless US drone attacks plaguing Northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan, at a rate of every four days since 2004, is an issue of particular concern to Sarah. A citizen of the former, her ancestral roots are in the latter. The morbid picture of dehumanised pilots effecting devastation from the comfortable confines of a remote air-force base in Nevada, contrasted against the dark shadowy outline of drones hovering over the terrified civilians beneath, is one she finds especially disquieting.