A central Iowa woman leaves for Afghanistan tonight on a peace-keeping mission. Chris Gaunt, of Grinnell, is part of an international group of activists who will meet in Kabul with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers to plant trees and hold a candlelight vigil.
Gaunt says she’s going to Afghanistan with an open heart and open mind.
“It’s just an incredible opportunity to go and listen and be a learner and come back and share with you all what it’s like for the people of Afghanistan,” Gaunt says.
The trip is organized by the Chicago-based group Voices for Creative Non-violence. Gaunt says she’s been arrested and even jailed for participating in war protests in Des Moines, but she says this trip is focusing more on the positive.
“Volunteers who’ve invited us keep talking about love and that’s the same thing I’ve been talking about for the last year,” she says. “I’ve really tried to live out this non-violence thing. It seems like the universe has brought this opportunity to me and I’m really excited about going. I feel like the luckiest person alive to be able to go.”
Gaunt is a third generation farmer and also works at the Grinnell College library. Gaunt leaves around midnight tonight and says the trip to Kabul will take some 56 hours.
Learn more about her trip at the website: www.livewithoutwars.org.
Chris Johnson, KGRN, Grinnell