Confessions of a Dove in Afghanistan

Part 1: Confessions of a Dove in Afghanistan

November, 11, 2009

This is the first in a series about a peace mission to Afghanistan. There was no stopping us, even though the State Department issued a warning against travel to Afghanistan because of “an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate Americans.” We were a group of eight women and one man organized by Code Pink, Women for Peace, and we arrived in Kabul believing the U.S. should withdraw its troops and spend more money on development. After eight days, our presumptions were turned upside down, splitting us into camps with conflicting opinions. Some still […]

Part 2 – Real Housewives of Afghanistan

November, 10, 2009

Part 2 of a series about a peace trip to Afgfhanistan. In a mud-brick building on the outskirts of Kabul, 25 women are sitting on a faded red carpet, learning to read. They’re barefoot and their palms are dyed orange with henna. We visit the class on our first day in Kabul and find the students, who range from their 20s to their 50s, on fire for learning. Ninety per cent of Afghan women are illiterate, we’re told by Farida Faqiri, head of Women for Women, an NGO that teaches women to read […]

Part 3 – Band-Aids for What’s Broke

November, 9, 2009

Part 3 of a series about a peace trip to Afgfhanistan. To see all posts in chronological order, Click Here. On our second night in Kabul, there’s a dinner given in our honor by Nooria and Asad Farhad, an Afghan couple whom Jodie Evans, a Code Pink founder, had met in L.A. The dinner proves to be a coming out party for our group. Asad is a former deputy in the Karzai government, and the guests are a glittering cast of ministers, journalists, generals, tribal leaders, professors and Mahmoud Karzai, the older brother of the President. […]

Part 4 – Love Shacks for the Taliban

November, 8, 2009

Part 4 of a series about a peace trip to Afgfhanistan. We’re invited to lunch by Dan Allison, who runs an NGO, Hope International. Women spread a cloth on the floor and carry in platters of rice, lamb, Afghan flat bread, spinach that’s been cooked to the consistency of mush, raw vegetables and mounds of grapes. We’ve been served the same meal at every lunch and dinner, and have been religious about not eating anything raw and drinking only bottled water. But Dan tells us, “We’ve trained our cooks to wash everything carefully. […]

Part 5 – Women’s Lib, Afghan Style

November, 7, 2009

Part 5 of a series about a peace trip to Afgfhanistan. Afghanistan is no island, entire of itself. There’s a constant bleeding of people, money and ideas through its porous borders with Pakistan, Iran, Russia and nearby India. There can be no solution to its problems without involving neighboring countries, which is the point of a women’s “Trialogue” we attend at the Central Hotel. About 60 women from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan have gathered for a two-day peace conference. Radha Kumar, a professor from India, opens the meeting by saying, “Our three countries […]

Part 6 – Hopeless and Helping

November, 6, 2009

Part 6 of a series about a peace trip to Afgfhanistan. On our last day, the final voice we hear is that of a member of Parliament from the south, Roshanak Wardak, who expresses the opposite position from what we’ve been hearing in Kabul. She just moved to a house in Kabul because it’s no longer safe to commute to her village. The concrete slab house looks as if it was erected yesterday, surrounded by rocks, rubble and a security wall with barbed wire. Jodie, Sara with Roshanak Roshanak is small and graceful, […]