They would always say we Afghans are the ones who are mean
April 25, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch how young Afghans struggle with the world labeling them as mean people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KkwvnV_qDY
Text of video
What is your name?
My name is Asif
And you?
Mohammad Basir
The world hammers & beats us & also kills us
And yet they say, we are mean
Even if the world loses, they would also say that we are mean
Whether the world wins or loses, they would say that we are the ones who are mean
So, whatever happens in this war, the world would say that we Afghans are the ones who are mean
An ordinary Afghan’s metric of success
April 20, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch an Afghan youth walk the talk about Afghan metrics of success
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puACoFVg5dA
what is success in Afghanistan?
Text of video
What are the metrics of success in Afghanistan, or in life?
Who do you call a successful person?
A successful person is one…who works hard
How do you go to & from school?
By bicycle.
What’s in your hand?
Pump…a bicycle pump
How does a successful Afghan travel, on foot, by donkey, by car or motorcycle, or by bicycle?
By motorcycle or car.
A successful person doesn’t travel by bicycle? No…..
Peace…peace be with you too….How about this, traveling by donkey?
He’s bringing the wheat to the flour mill.
What clothes does a successful person wear?
He wears nice clothes.
A farmer who wears the perahan-tombon ( local Afghan shirt & pants ) isn’t successful?
He is also successful…it doesn’t depend on the clothes. Some people have dirty clothes but are very successful.
Is a government that is always at war considered successful?
No, that’s not a successful government….in the end, it would suffer losses.
Afghans say that those with connections, money & power will become successful.
They find a living through un-holy means…it’s not good, there’s no benefit
It’s not good, but do you still consider them successful?
No!
International forces say that they will be successful the day they win victory over the Taliban. Are they right?
No…
Why aren’t they right? When the Talibs are gone, war will begin again with yet another government.
Every government who wins wants to dominate even more countries, so they’ll go to war again, won’t they?
A successful person is one…who works hard.
bicycles and donkeys
An Upside Down philosophy converges in Afghanistan
April 15, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch this to think differently for the sake of the Afghan people & international forces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM0WpTn6DTk
The world wants to get some balance & head for ‘success’ in Afg
Humanity has not matured enough to face the truth as it is
Nasrullah, why do some Afghans say that everything is upside down in Afg?
Because…like this upside down weighing balance, nothings works
Look…there are 47 countries gathered to wage war in Afg
& they kill people, like in Kandahar & they call this Operation Hope
What kind of a hope? It’s an upside down hope!
We need to get to the basic bottom, & call what is life, life & what is death, death
An Afghan boy fulfills his promise to US Ambassador Eikenberry
April 8, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch an ordinary Afghan boy fulfill his promise to Ambassador Eikenberry & President Obama, as elite promises falter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEnUU4hCVoo
Text of video
Autumn 2009.
Send your teacher my greetings of peace.
Tell him that the Bamiyan Governor says,
“Teach Zekerullah the alphabet.”
Zekerullah, you should promise Governor that you would go to school in the New Year ( spring of 2010 ).
Would you promise?
Yes.
“Well done, well done!”
US Ambassador Eikenberry visits the Afghan Youth Peace Vigil
How about you ( Zekerullah )? What’s your favorite subject?
Unfortunately, I didn’t go to school year.
Are you going to go back next year?
He promised. Before you arrived here, I had a conversation with him. He left school ; he couldn’t follow.
Okay…I hate to…I’ll go ahead & get that news ( peace message ) to President Obama. Can I tell him that you’re going to go back to school? Yes.
Is that a pledge?
If the days are not ‘bad’, I’ll definitely fulfill my promise…if days turn bad, no one can fulfill their promise.
Spring of 2010 arrived ; Zekerullah now works half the day…
…& goes to school in the afternoon with these grade 2 Dari & Math textbooks.
Did you shave your head?
Yes, I did. The weather has warmed up.
It’s already the New Year?
Yes.
Show me your haircut.
Here it is…
Where will you go right now?
To school.
Well done,‘son’!
Which grade did you enroll in?
Grade 2
Very good.
So, are you fulfilling your promise to Obama, Eikenberry & Governor Sarobi?
Yes!
I want to fulfill my promise this year, to learn to read & write, to be literate
What do you want to be in the future?
I want to be a doctor.
Really?
Yes, like yourself…
Are you going to school?
Yes.
What’s the name of this school?
The Central Boys School
Study hard, okay?
What message do you have ( for the US Ambassador )?
That he would also fulfill his promise.
Bye, God protect you!
God protect you!
Peace comes not with words but with resolute action