It is now six days before our Voices for Creative Nonviolence UK delegation leaves for two weeks in Kabul. We had our final preparation meeting last Sunday and set up media coverage and made all sorts of practical decisions. Despite anxieties I am feeling confident and hopeful. We have certainly done the groundwork necessary, both individual and collective, and we are all clear about our objectives. It is wonderful to be going to Afghanistan as part of the wider Voices for Creative Nonviolence and communication from them has been thorough and encouraging. I feel very comfortable with my four companions and we are different in age and character but united in our aims. It is encouraging to see how we are all supporting each others’ projects and offering help.
Personally, the past few weeks have been at times fearful and at times exciting. I find that if I am not dealing with my day to day life in an ordered fashion, fears about the trip grow. If I live in the day and do the things required of me, then I become more positive.
Apart from practicalities like shopping for warm clothes, writing a will, making sure I have all necessary documents and photographs, I’ve been preparing myself mentally. Maya recommended that we read “Ghosts of Afghanistan” and relevant entries in the “Lonely Planet ” guide. Such reading helps to concentrate the mind and I find that if I spend some time each day reading about Afghanistan then fears subside. Other reading consists of “The Brothers Karamazov”! I’ve signed up for a ten week course on the book, starting in January and I’ve been reading it in audio form. It’s serious and entertaining enough to be an ideal read before spending two weeks unable to read anything. Let me explain.
Because of my visual impairment I am unable to read without the aid of magnification. Being unwilling to take anything to Afghanistan that is precious or difficult to replace, apart from myself, I won’t be taking my magnifying glasses. I’ve come to realise that I have enough material in my head and heart to keep me going for many hours! After all, I am sixty six and have a good memory and vivid imagination. The same goes for writing as well as reading. I can no longer write with pen and paper, which is why I’m reduced to keeping an online journal to share my thoughts with friends. So, I’ve bought a simple battery operated voice recorder to record my thoughts and impressions while in Afghanistan. I can then use these reflections to write up accounts for the journal on return. Wordsworth’s “emotion recollected in tranquility” is my method! I neither like nor trust the immediacy of internet communication; information without wisdom is a phrase I recently heard and feel it sums up my distrust. Even composing these journal entries takes me several days and I’m not a prolific writer, as can be seen by the number of posts since August.
I’m now signing off until January, trusting in God that whatever happens it’s meant to be.
Live Adventurously 