From Common Dreams
The outrage now directed toward the National Rifle Association should also challenge all assaults made by the U.S. military.
Fly Kites Not Drones -- Afghan Peace Volunteers and street kids
(Image by YouTube, Channel: Our Journey To Smile) Details DMCA
Here in Kabul, as the rising sun begins to warm our chilly rooms, I hear excited laughter from downstairs. Rosemary Morrow, a renowned Australian permaculture expert, has begun teaching 35 young students in a month-long course on low-resource farming.
In war-torn Afghanistan, there's a desperate need to rebuild agricultural infrastructure and help people grow their own food. People verging on despair feel encouraged by possibilities of replenishing and repairing their soil.
The night before, over dinner, one of the students discussed news from his home town in Afghanistan's Wardak province about U.S. aerial attacks. "The blasts have become so frequent," he said, "that people can't find spaces to bury their dead."
During breaks in the class, I tell some of the Afghan Peace Volunteer students about the school shootings in the United States, and the remarkable determination of teenagers from Florida to demand that lawmakers take action on gun control.
These Afghan students have also heard about Black Lives Matter activists who have been tear gassed and beaten when they've demonstrated against police brutality. The Afghan teens identify with the activists facing danger, but still standing up to insist on change.
I asked if they thought that the U.S. media and government would heed Afghan young people raising their voices asserting their anguish and fear regarding U.S. aerial attacks and drone assassinations.
"You're dreaming," said Hamid. He flashed me a warm smile and shook his head, saying, "no one will ever listen to us."
I asked if they thought that the U.S. media and government would heed Afghan young people raising their voices asserting their anguish and fear regarding U.S. aerial attacks and drone assassinations.
Nasir, a third-year university student who majors in mapping technology, tells me he thinks teens in the United States have a chance to be heard. Like Habib, he doubts that the same is true for Afghan voices seeking to end the 16-year-old war.
But Zainab, a high schooler in the permaculture class, added that she thinks it would be great to record a vigil of teenagers in Kabul sending their support for U.S. teenagers who've survived school shootings in the U.S. and who've begun shaming the adult world into action on the issue of gun violence.
The outrage now directed toward the National Rifle Association should also challenge all assaults made by the U.S. military.
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