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Maya Evans peace delegation to Afghanistan
16 December 2011: Stranded in London
Greetings from Sunny Catford!
Well I fully expected to be wandering the
Streets of Kabul by now, putting into practice the little Dari
I possess; Salaam! Instead I’m in grey, rainy Catford, South
London, looking out the window and praying it doesn’t start
snowing.
Did I change my mind about the trip, heed
my Mum’s warning that such an excursion was mad and dangerous?
Alas no, my flight was cancelled due to landing restrictions in
Kabul, apparently airline companies have a quota of flights which
can land in Kabul and my company had exceeded their quota for
the week. I was initially confused but after looking at Kabul
airport on Google Earth I got a better idea of the situation,
one runway and maybe a dozen planes in the docking bay, a very
far cry from Heathrow!
So now I’m held up at a friend’s
in Catford listening to Smooth FM, 80's hits sandwiched between
“Christmas in Afghanistan for the British Troops’,
a priest talking about how now more than ever it was a wondrous
thing that God had sent his son to help humanity… how despite
the fighting going on outside the military bases, troops where
celebrating and remembering the gift God sent them all those years
ago; cue British Troops singing Christmas carols…
I started thinking about my actual Christmas
in Kabul, I hadn’t given it much thought until then, I naturally
assumed it would go by un-noticed, what with it being a Muslim
country, to be honest I was somewhat relieved to skip Christmas
this year as I find it something of a stressful period. The others
on the delegation are all Christian so I guess there’ll
be some sort of acknowledgement, however I get the impression
they’re very focused campaigners so will want to make best
use of what little time we have in Kabul. One thing is for certain,
it will be unlike anything I have ever experienced before.
Last night I thoroughly explored Kabul on
Google Earth, took a panoramic view of a barren hilltop in the
centre of the city, sat with a shepherd and his goats, looked
at an abandoned outdoor swimming pool with diving boards jutting
out into the mountainous horizon, walked through agricultural
fields in the centre of the city.
I read a bit of history from my Lonely Planet
Guide which covered the invasion of Genghis Khan in 1219, he basically
swept through Afghanistan on a massive killing spree destroying
everything in his wake, green gardens, orchards, the sophisticated
canal systems in the south- historically it’s considered
a significant turning point which Afghanistan has yet to recover
from. Reading on in the brief history pages I got the impression
that Afghanistan is a country which has been constantly invaded
but so rarely conquered for any amount of time.
This morning I woke up with the essence of
Afghanistan in my mind and heart, I had dreamt about the streets
of Kabul, the dusty roads and dilapidated Soviet built blocks,
the people. For some reason I didn’t feel scared, more excited
with slight pangs of nervous. I’ve spoken to many British
people who have recently visited Kabul and they all say that it’s
OK, not as bad as you might imagine.
So I am scheduled to land in Kabul on the
day before my 32nd birthday, it will make waking up on my first
Morning in Afghanistan extra special.
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