On the front line for peace

January 28, 2008—Jalalabad, Afghanistan

As President George W. Bush delivered the “State of the Union” address to millions of Americans calling upon us to remember “A loved one who was serving far from home” in either Afghanistan or Iraq, such words resonated from the comfortable living room of our Marin County home as my husband is standing on the frontline for peace in Jalalabad training Afghan farmers to cultivate peace from the ground up. Surrounded by security guards holding AK-47 rifles, there is a proud smile on their faces as they watch their fellow Afghans establish orchards on former war-torn lands.

Roots of Peace is complementing the military efforts in a Spring 2008 Offensive by creating alternative agricultural crops—placing “shovels” not “guns” into the hands of Afghan farmers. Afghanistan is 80% dependent upon agriculture, and the “secret strength” of the American people still resides in our “spirit” to reach out to those who are seeking to restore war-torn economies.

Afghanistan was once considered the Garden of Central Asia, yet an estimated 10 million landmines and UXO only yield a lethal harvest holding the land hostage. Roots of Peace is actively planting cherries in Badhakshan, almonds in Jalalabad, pomegranates in Kandahar, and grapes in the Shomali Plains—helping to make Afghanistan “green” following the bloodshed from the Soviet and Taliban invasion where the knowledge of agricultural “roots” was lost to war.