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In the Afghan Garden of Central Asia
10/2006 - The elders of the Qula Bayazid village were patiently awaiting our arrival and proudly gave us a tour of their newly established nursery created by Roots of Peace. Rows of grafted trellis vines, kishmish khana grapes, cherries, pomegranates, and various plant varietals were a living library of the once thriving Afghan Garden of Central Asia. Cuttings from these varietals are sold to other neighboring farmers allowing alternative agricultural livelihoods to thrive. This is the future for Afghanistan.
Following our tour of the nursery, the village elder—an 80 year old man with weathered skin, a white beard, and turban wrapped with dignity--seated us beneath the shade of the trees and proudly presented a hand-carved wooden eagle as a symbol of gratitude from the Bagram farmers honoring the vision of Roots of Peace for restoring their agricultural dreams. Shamim translated his words from Dari into English, and later communicated to me the significance of this proud village elder to publicly present this special gift to an American woman as symbol of deep appreciation in the presence of other village men. This was the highest form of gratitude from a traditional Afghan man. Shamim continued to translate, “We thank the Roots of Peace team for training local farmers who have doubled their income by working their ancient lands. We thank you for not abandoning us during these times of great challenges. If only your team could stay with us for two more years to train our farmers, then the Afghans may have the agricultural tools of knowledge to stand on their own two feet.” From my tradition, the eagle represents freedom, which in this case has empowered over 6,000 Afghan farmers trained by Roots of Peace to grow alternative agricultural crops. Before the sun went down on this special day, there was yet another gift to unfold. |
