Works

Winning at the 11th World Chambers Congress

In 2019, I attended the 11th World Chambers Congress, where I presented our efforts at the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce, focusing on how we built our membership base and tailored services to address their specific needs. The interesting bitter sweet part of the story is that when I arrived at Rio de Janeiro airport from Kabul, with a connection in Dubai, I met a delegation of Afghan men whose trip was arranged by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Afghanistan chapter. The immigration officer pulled us aside with our Afghan passports for a special check. After a two-hour wait, we were told we couldn’t enter. I approached the Emirates agent and asked to speak with the Brazilian police, who then denied me entry. I managed to enter the police room and explained to the officer that I was part of a panel scheduled to present at the congress. The police checked and confirmed this, allowing me to enter Brazil, but not the others. When I received an award, I took a moment to share with the conference attendees how I managed to get in.