From minefields to soccerfields

10/31/2006 - The Roots of Peace Girls Afghan Soccer Team greeted us with bright smiles on their home turf in Karte Char! Each week for the past several years, they have practiced diligently on the Roots of Peace Soccer Field surrounded by high walls to prevent the public from seeing these talented girls play a team sport.

Respectful of the Muslim culture, they play with long pants and scarves tied around their heads as they balance many worlds on the tip of their cleats. Shamim proudly joined me, as we distributed the official Roots of Peace team warm-ups featuring our logo with the grapevine and dove of peace.

It was especially wonderful to see Ahmad, the coach of the Roots of Peace Girls Soccer Team, as we had originally met him last August 2005 at the ICRC Clinic. My daughter Kyleigh had spoken to him as an 18 year old peer, as he was waiting to have a new leg adjusted where the limb was missing from the waist down. As Kyleigh asked Ahmad what was his favorite thing to do before his “accident”, he replied, “I loved to play soccer!” And, so we hired him on the spot as the official Roots of Peace Coach, where he proudly honed in on the girls’ skills leading them to national victory at the soccer field in Kabul—the same site where women were persecuted for not wearing their burka. Now, with three legs (two crutches and his good leg!), Ahmad represents the spirit of Afghanistan where the word “amputee” represents a badge of courage.

As the afternoon unfolded, the Roots of Peace Girls Soccer team presented us a paper tissue kite featuring the colors of Afghanistan—black, red, green and white! Suddenly, we were living the high life as we flew our brightly colored kites in the sky!

Running fast on former battlefields converted into playgrounds, we felt the surge of energy as the roots of peace were firmly grounded beneath our feet. Holding the spool next to our chests, we felt the heartstrings of kite thread connecting our earthly bodies to the skies above! Our colorful kites whisked in the wind as we battled for victory high above the landscape of Kabul.

Surviving the challenges of the week, we ran hard on the soils of Afghanistan and celebrated the fact that we were now were truly kite runners for peace!