Rory supports Maulds Meaburn Village Hall with Afghan talk

Rory showed his support for Maulds Meaburn’s village hall on Friday evening, when he presented a talk at the community fundraising event about his time spent working and travelling across Afghanistan.

Speaking to a packed village hall – with well over one hundred tickets sold – local residents learnt directly from Rory about his experiences of a country which continues to dominate the headlines. Accompanied by a slideshow, Rory spoke not only of his walk from Herat to Kabul, but of his work as head of the Kabul-based charitable organisation Turquoise Mountain Foundation. He also offered an historical, political and cultural narrative of the region which allowed the audience to gain a much deeper appreciation of Afghanistan’s complexity. Given his extensive knowledge of the area, Rory continues to criticise the international community’s approach to Afghanistan, and offered those at his talk in Maulds Meaburn an argument for why a long-term “light footprint” is a more sensible approach than the current focus on large numbers of foreign troops.

Speaking afterwards, Rory said: “Maulds Meaburn is a wonderful community, and I was very struck by the ideas and energy in the room – I learned a great deal from the evening.”