As per the request of the then Provincial of my Province, I volunteered to work in Afghanistan. I went there in 2007 and worked there for three months. I was assigned to teach English to students in the universities and to conduct ELT workshops for teacher trainees in Teacher Training Institutes. Memories of my experience there are still fresh in my mind.

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Stark Realities Encountered:

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People there are in desperate and dire need of assistance in all possible ways. Afghanistan is a country torn apart by external and internal wars for decades. Each family has encountered huge losses and each person has a traumatic story to narrate. It is a country needing healing and reconciliation. In spite of all these uncertain circumstances, people still continue to live and carry on their normal chores happily and gratefully.

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Lessons Learnt for my Life:

1. I continue to cherish the Afghan people, who are very friendly, highly cooperative, collaborative, open and above all just and humanitarian.

2. My experience impels me always to take up frontier ministries and issues that others are reluctant to.

3. I cherished my Jesuit community life during my ministry in Afghanistan. I have realized how our community could become a source of support and inspiration for our ministry.

It is a country needing

healing & reconciliation