Former Afghan interpreters who risked their lives working with the Canadian military in their homeland have joined the construction trades industry in London and area.

Three Afghans who worked as interpreters for 10 years have joined the local carpenters union to learn a skilled trade. They fled their country when coalition forces withdrew from the conflict last year.

They’re part of a national program called Helmets to Hardhats that offers veterans and cadets — and now the interpreters — a chance at a skilled trades education after their military service.

“I am feeling very good, I am safe now,” said one of the interpreters, who has recently been doing drywall work at a commercial project in Aylmer. The 29-year-old asked not to be identified as he has family in Afghanistan and fears for their safety.

“For 10 years I worked with U.S. special forces and Canadians. It was very dangerous. At night we went looking for the bad people. They wanted to kill me. Working with the coalition was not acceptable to them.”

He worked largely in the Kandahar area, and when coalition forces pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, “we were very concerned the Taliban would kill us. I was hiding. I was very worried,” he said.

Canadian officials he had been working with arranged a helicopter to get him to a “safety zone” in Kabul where he applied to come to Canada.

The former interpreter first heard of Helmets to Hardhats through a military contact. “I applied and they approved me as a student.”

He has been working for about two months.

Keep reading in The London Free Press