Happy January

It's the last day of January, and it's my first blog entry of the month :-) It has been another busy month with lots of abundance. On the first day of January, I was celebrating the New Year in Greenwich Village, NY. I finished edits on a documentary about Iraq's Constitution, and then I flew to Oregon where I hung out for a week, packed my bags, got rained on, and then hit the road for sunny California.

Afghanistan: A Grounded Perspective

Everything about my experience in Afghanistan has been instrumental to my personal, spiritual and professional growth. Afghanistan’s chaos, disparity and catastrophe is upsetting to me and I won’t feel satisfied until its people are able to live in peace. I’ve been pondering the situation, and continue to educate myself on what’s happening in the area by following many different media sources, studying Afghanistan’s history and by talking with friends who work there in humanitarian aid and development. When looking for a valid firsthand experience, out of my entire network I think of Peter because he has a clear, empirical perpective on a very confusing and messy situation. I met Peter when I worked for the Parliamentary Election in 2005. He worked in the electoral office of public outreach and was in charge of the film and television campaign for civic education. Upon meeting Peter, his humble sensibility, down to earth perspective, and passion to understand the Afghan people impressed me immediately.

Peter has worked in Afghanistan off and on since his first visit in 2001. What I find most intriguing is that most of his work there has been developing communication strategies for organizations like the UN, USAID, and the Afghan and Pakistani government, in order to reach citizens in both countries, and even to specifically reach the Taliban. Not only is he a friend, but because of his concern for the planet and experience in our shared field of development, he is also a mentor. The following interview took place on the 26th of January 2009.