Afghanistan Conversations

Yesterday, 21 September, our delegation met to continue our preparations for our journey to Afghanistan.  We are four in number at present but there is a fifth person who has not been able to make the meetings yet.  We hope she will join us for our community building in October.

Maya, Beth, Ariadne and myself met up at Caffe Nero in Kensington and set off for our first visit to the Afghan Embassy which is opposite Hyde Park.  Our intention was to apply for our visas but, although we had everything else, we discovered we needed letters of invitation.  Hopefully these will come soon and we were not too disappointed not to get the process underway yeaterday.  We all feel more confident now about returning to the embassy to deliver our papers.

After Kensington, we decided to visit Whitechapel to shop!  We hopped on the District Line and were soon in the market.  Our aim?  To buy shalwar kameez to wear  in Afghanistan!  Really, all we need are clothes which cover us and are loose fitting, so that we don’t look too Western and so that we can wear thermals underneath!  It will be very cold!

After Whitechapel, we took off for Kings Cross and the Peace News office for the most exciting part of our day.

The group we shall be staying with, Afghan Peace Volunteers, hold a Global Day of Listening on the 21st of each month.  By using the internet, skype and telephones, it is possible to set up a time to speak to them.  They stay connected all day and speak to many groups from all around the world.  Someone from the Voices for Creative Nonviolence coordinates the conversations and yesterday it was Kathy Kelly, founder of VCNV and a frequent visitor to Afghanistan.  Indeed, she may well be there when we go in December.  I met Kathy many times whilst I was living in the States and she is keen that I go to Afghanistan because of our house of hospitality in Oxford, St. Francis House, which is an example of people from different countries and  cultures living together.  She is a remarkable woman and has been visiting and supporting people in war zones for many years.  She was in Iraq throughout the early months of the U.S. bombing in 2003.

As we joined the skype conversation, a group of students from Long Island, New York had just finished their slot.  Linked by Kathy we introduced ourselves and the young men in Kabul introduced themselves.  They asked us questions and I was touched that they were so interested in St Francis House, particularly asking questions about how people got on and how conflict is resolved.  Beth and Ariadne talked to them about their hopes to produce a book and a documentary on our visit and asked them for ideas about linking up when we return.

The conversation was then joined by someone working with children in Gaza and another group of thirteen year olds from the States!

We hope to do the same thing in October, when hopefully Mary, our fifth delegate, will be with us.

After the skyping we had a meeting addressing practicalities of our travels and found a relatively inexpensive ticket option on line which we will be able to book once we have our visas.  Our projected travel date is 17/18 December and we will stay for two weeks or perhaps a few days more.

I am enjoying getting to know the other women and working together to make this journey possible.

My Becoming Friends companion at Oxford Quakers, Gwithian, has suggested that we set up a support group for me  from Friends at the Meeting.  This is something that Quakers do for community members who are contemplating doing something out of the ordinary or particularly difficult.  Our first meeting is on Wednesday and Beth, who lives in Oxford and has been associated with Quakers, will join us.

It is comforting to kow that my two journeys, towards Quaker faith and life and to Afghanistan, are so closely linked.