"It's so quiet when the power goes out. The ever-present fans slow, the light shifts and I notice the windows and the flash of a plane overhead.
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Children playing in Kabul
Photo: Larry Kerschner
Join the Global Day of Listening for the International Day of Peace!
WHEN: Beginning tomorrow night at 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific, and continuing for 24 hours through Wednesday night. Afghan youth will be on the call beginning at 9:30 AM Eastern Wednesday morning.
WHERE: Follow along with the global discussion on the live online webcast.
WHO: Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, members of the FOR clean water delegation to Afghanistan, Noam Chomsky, and those working for peace from around the world.
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"Less than 20% of Kabul has electricity. We're the lucky ones. We only lose it a couple of times a day, usually for a few minutes each -- more reliable than I expected.
"We hear and feel explosions in the distance. During the daytime some of those are construction sounds but in the middle of the night Larry says they sound like howitzers.
"I'm living in this city that was once known as the Paris of the Middle East. A city in which 98% of the buildings were bombed in the last 30 years."
Jody Mackey's report from Kabul, Afghanistan, recounts her experiences with the FOR clean water delegation taking place this month. Jody and fellow FOR members Douglas Mackey and Larry Kerschner are spending September working with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers to build bio-sand water filters. Read more reflections from the clean water delegation.
On Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM Eastern time, you'll be able to hear directly from the Afghanistan clean water delegation and Afghan youth during the Global Day of Listening. The event takes place for 24 hours, beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern time on Tuesday night, and will include individuals worldwide who are working for peace and justice.
- You can listen to the global discussion at any time between 8:00 PM (Eastern) Tuesday and 8:00 PM (Eastern) Wednesday. Bookmark the Global Day of Listening webcast page and tune in during those 24 hours.
- Afghan delegation participants and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers will be participating at 9:30 AM (Eastern) Wednesday morning, followed by activist and scholar Noam Chomsky at 10:30 AM (Eastern).
- If you want to speak as part of the global discussion, you need to email globaldaysoflistening@gmail.com to request a call-in time. (No reservation is necessary if you just want to listen.) More information will be sent once your call-in time is confirmed.
Jody, Douglas and Larry will be speaking, as well as Afghanistan youth with whom they're working. Individuals from Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and Libya will also be participating. We hope you'll join us!
Arts delegation hosts mural workshop for girls in Palestine
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb writes from Balata, Palestine:
"Almost every family in Palestine carries loss. Um Emad still mourns the death of her eldest son, a photographer. He was shot during the second intifada while filming events. Like many injured people, Israeli soldiers on the scene did not permit the family or medical personnel to attend to his wounds, and he bled to death in the street.
"Emad was a proponent of women’s rights and this particular center was initiated by his mother due to the desire to honor his memory. The women at the center recognized me from my last visit … as did the representatives of the village of Ramona, which we visited after lunch. It’s a wonderful feeling to return and return again and feel people’s appreciation for the ongoing work of solidarity."
 Last week, Lynn, artist Lily Yeh and other members of the FOR art delegation traveled to a girls' school in the Balata Refugee Camp, where they asked the children to draw what was beautiful in their lives.
"We identified common themes and then went home and put all the images together to create the mural which we, along with the girls, will paint in the large inner court yard of the school. We found a way to put all their images into one mural … a young woman with roots of a tree against the landscape with one arm holding the flame of knowledge, and the other a dove in flight. There is a ribbon of the colors of Palestine, red, white and green, flowing from the mountains and wrapping itself around the tree into her roots. In the distance is a village with many of their images woven into the scene, including the woman below in traditional dress. The image reflects their hope for the future and their central place within it."
You can read more reports from the Balata arts delegation and learn about how you can support their work in Palestine.
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