Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Madina Wardak

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Madina Wardak. Check out our conversation below.

Madina, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Have you ever been glad you didn’t act fast?
Always. I’ve struggled with impulsivity my whole life. I’m an Afghan woman with a public online profile working in mental health. Just that alone puts me in a high-stress environment with loads of expectations. This made me a very reactive person, and the internet rewards that behavior. But I noticed people would expect me to fight their battles. Or want me to be angrier than I was. It could be a political situation back home, a social issue in diaspora, etc. I’ve had to sift through these feelings – is this my rage that I’m carrying?

I’ve also been the target of bullying and harassment. I thought I was protecting my abusers by being silent; weak for not exposing them for who they are. But being patient has been the greatest reward. Everything comes to surface and people eventually expose who they are.

Slowing down helps you assess a situation carefully. And in the end, you’ll know you acted on what you believed was right with what you knew.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Madina Wardak, MSW/ACSW. I’m a mental health community trainer, digital creator, & podcaster.

I use my experience working in social services and community organizing, as well as my lived experience as an Afghan woman living in Los Angeles to inform my work. I care about empowering marginalized communities. Growing up in an Afghan refugee community, I was keenly aware of how traumatized we were; I just didn’t have the language for it. My mom wanted me to be a doctor, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, my dad just wanted me to be happy. I landed in the middle. As a community mental health trainer and associate clinical social worker, I fuse policy and health. I speak both languages to offer a diagnosis. I try to make mental health digestible and culturally-informed so my community can access it and empower themselves. I love being Afghan, and I love the work I do. I’m currently studying for my LCSW exam, maybe one day I’ll open a private practice.

I just started my podcast, Burqas and Beer with my best friend, Kyna Wise. It’s been so fun! You can check us out now on Apple & Spotify, and I swear everywhere else by the end of the year!

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My late father. In Pashto, our language, I call him Aba.

Aba was a poet and patriot, and so am I. He loved to talk about history and his experiences in different countries as a hydrology engineer. He and I both have a sense of humor. All Afghans do, we use humor to cope with our reality and I’m glad we have that.

In 2022, I organized a rally at the Federal Building in Los Angeles against the neglectful and hasty U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. My dad came with his walker. I caught him staring at me as I gave my speech to the crowd. He was crying. He kissed the flag and kissed my cheek. Two Afghan women who I look up to met my father that day and told him how my work has impacted them positively. He was so proud.

Anytime I doubt myself, I imagine my Aba in the crowd.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
The world doesn’t have to understand you. Only you have to. Your quirks and what makes you different is your superpower. There’s nothing wrong with not liking what everyone else likes. One day, you’re going to be someone’s reason. And then you’ll love yourself so much, that you’ll become your own reason.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
Honor. Not the way the West has twisted it to seem like some archaic, fickle notion of misogynistic power. Afghan honor is a deep value that’s embedded in us. In the spaces between our spine. In our cells. The world has tried to bring us to our knees so many times. We ourselves have hurt one another for decades. But I refuse to buy into the idea that we are helpless or hopeless. I want to reinvent what Afghan honor means. To never lose our humanity. To never sell our souls for the pleasures of this world. To uphold life, and to fight for true liberation. To see the best version of ourselves in every interaction we have. We can do it, I know we can.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop sitting so much. Get my butt up and move! Doesn’t matter where; just not still, and just not in one place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://madinawardak.com
• Instagram: @burqasandbeer
• Other: Search Burqas and Beer Podcast on Apple Podcasts & Spotify