In Search of the Afghan Soul

This project is my attempt to learn about Afghanistan, to see and feel Afghanistan for myself, untainted by any preconceptions. The repercussions of war are incalculable, however peoples' lives continue to be impacted post war. Their struggles don't just stop when the conflict ceases, especially when their new government takes an extreme and hardline stance. With all that has been happening leading up to my trip to Afghanistan early this year, the new edicts that have been passed that further restricted human rights, I wanted to hear from the lips of Afghan men and women themselves, their thoughts of the new decrees on girls and women's educations, restrictions to women's ability to work, sharia law and the like. The one thing that summed it all up for me was a man named Azizi. Music was something he knew and loved all his life. I felt a desperation in his being and what this regime has taken away from him, from so many. It is not just music they’ve taken away, it’s lucidity. A once vibrant Afghanistan I now liken to all the musical instruments that have been hidden away in dark places, never again to see the light. This same light has been smeared from the hearts of every Afghan. Piece by piece, the Afghan soul is being striped away.