We landed four days ago, microphones, cameras and contracts in hand, excited to begin PeaceTones Afghanistan. The idea had been brewing in Jeff's head ever since PeaceTones received one of the fifty World Justice Forum's grants --- December 31, 2008, as seed money for PeaceTones premiere year. Jeff and I met sometime last winter (2009) to discuss a PeaceTones project in Haiti, where I have been working for the past couple of years through my university. Appropriately enough, we were drinking chai at some small coffee place. Six months later, I found myself sitting on a plane heading towards Afghanistan.
In the West, the country has practically become a synonym for terrorist, followed quickly by fundamentalist Islam, jihad, opium, and madrassa, to name a few more negative stereotypes and words that have completely lost their historical meaning when spat out of Western media. After sifting through several books on the country, I was expecting something much more than this narrow, slanted perspective. The rich history and culture of the place painted a more complicated picture. Through PeaceTones, Jeff and I hoped to expound upon these centuries of artisan craft, music, tradition and development. The historical center of cultural blending and commerce in South Asia, Afghanistan should be the nexus of the digital Silk Road.
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