Before I left for Kabul my niece Leah and nephew Garrison (both 8 years-old) were very concerned and asked me why I wanted to go. I told them that we always hear bad news, but we don’t often hear the good news and I was going to work with people who were doing really good things. Mema, (my granny-in-law) sitting behind them, nodded and said, “that’s right”. Leah and Garrison seemed to accept that idea, though their little faces still registered concern. We all know that there is more out there – that the world is a good place – but we are constantly bombarded with information and images that replay the negative, the painful, and the depressing.
Things I am missing about Kabul...
So, today I am really missing my friends and colleagues in Kabul after two aggravating incidents. Yesterday an entitled and aggressive man sat next to me on the subway and expected/demanded I move over so his companion could sit where I was sitting. I was confused and wanted to move away from him, so I moved. Then today, I am walking down the street and another man rams into me and shoves me over with his shoulder. (This is in Queens, too!)
Final Performance
Just a quick note before I head off to bed. I’ve been up since 6am and at the office since 7:30 preparing for our final presentation. We had an amazing performance today with much discussion and a brave intervention into the play! Forum theater has begun! (Yes, I did get video of it!)
Afterwards, we had a party for the participants and all our emotions came pouring out … well, Afghan style. Which meant we basically were all on the verge of tears and some small tears, but I was really about to lose it. The men and women said such kind and sincere things to me, about the work and about their experience.
I was so touched that many of them went so far as to buy me a gift. Everything from chocolates, to Afghan sweets, to a beautiful Afghan outfit, and outfits for my future children!
I have learned so much and am so moved by the heart and spirit of my new friends and colleagues. I can’t wait to see the work they do! And, yes, I am definitely changed.
In a place where one of our artists has his name tatooed on his forearm so his family can identify him in case he’s dismembered in a bomb blast, I am proud and honored to have shared ideas and practices of liberation with a few committed souls. I told them all, that we will meet again. I mean it.
Day Eight
“Oh please leave, please just leave!” I’ve been repeating this phrase in my head for the last couple of days. My workshop has been stopped thanks to a high level international conference on aid and development funding for Afghanistan. The office is shut, many roadways are completely closed, and everyone is waiting for Ban Ki Moon and the other international superstars and diplomats to get on their planes and fly out of Kabul.
Day THREE AND FOUR – The Stories
What’s it like to be a theater artist living in Afghanistan? Over the last 3 days the group shared personal experiences of what it is like to make theater in their provinces. We used their stories and created a “problem tree” – a tool used in popular education to analyze a present problem, what supports this problem, all the way down to the root causes. The problems they presented are somewhat familiar to me: no respect, no resources, and no support. These become the leaves, or fruit of the tree.
First Night in Kabul
It’s 9:00pm in Kabul and the sun is down. I hear a cat mewing from my bedroom window which faces the garden at the front of the house. It’s hot and very dry in Kabul today. As we drove to the house, sheets of fine sand drape over me, like the thin cotton scarf gently covering my head and shoulders. The dust seemed to have a life of its own, here – angry kicking up sudden clouds and surprising the passersby who were caught in the momentary tumult; there – calm, gentle trails caressing the buildings.