We received word from Eric a couple days ago that he arrived safely in Kabul, Afghanistan with the rest of the delegation from Voices for Creative Nonviolence. He wrote:
It is quite shocking to be in a war zone for the first time. Almost immediately upon landing you are made aware that you are in a country that has been at war for a very long time. I’ve seen so many men with AK-47s it now doesn’t seem so odd. And there is razor wire everywhere…
We’ve also already had several interesting meetings with Afghans and NGOs doing humanitarian work. And yesterday the group Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers from Bamiyan arrived in Kabul. They are an incredible group of young people committed to nonviolence, who I’m looking very forward to getting to know more closely over the coming days.
As Eric mentioned in a post before he left, the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers are calling for a “Global Day of Listening to Afghans” that is to take place on Thursday, December 19—the same day the Obama administration makes public its “December Review” of the situation in Afghanistan. Eric wants to remind everyone that the group will “be available to speak to you about their thoughts on the war via Skype all day long” and that “if you or a group that you’re involved with would like to participate, contact them directly at: youthpeacevolunteers@gmail.com.”
It would be great if folks taking part share their experience in the comments.