Hamida Ghafour

Hamida Ghafour (born 1977) is an Afghan-born Canadian journalist and author whose insightful reporting bridges her complex heritage with contemporary global affairs. “Hamida Ghafour's family left Afghanistan for Toronto in 1981, following the Soviet invasion,” as noted by World of Books. Growing up in Canada, she pursued journalism and eventually relocated to London before returning to Kabul in 2003 as a foreign correspondent. She spent years reporting on American-led post-9/11 reconstruction efforts for major news outlets, including The Daily Telegraph, The Globe and Mail, and The Toronto Star. She achieved critical literary acclaim with her 2007 book, The Sleeping Buddha: The Story of Afghanistan Through the Eyes of One Family. This multi-layered work seamlessly weaves her personal observations as a wartime journalist with her family's rich history—including ancestors who were prominent Sufi mystics, social reformers, and constitutional architects—offering a deeply empathetic portrait of a fractured homeland.