A Lone American's Fight to save his Afghan brothers!
A Lone American's Fight to save his Afghan brothers!
The illustrations in this book were done by my extremely talented friend, artist, musician and scholar Chelsea Faith Mariano who is a PhD Student here at Vanderbilt University. I feel very blessed that Chelsea was able to bring my written words to life. Her images are so much more than pretty pictures and, in many ways, enhanced the very stories I was trying to tell. In her role as illustrator, Chelsea was able to imagine characters and worlds from my descriptions, think in terms of visual storytelling and together we formed a creative partnership, connection and friendship.
I knew from the very beginning of this project that I wanted to include book illustrations that stimulated the imagination and heightened the perception of the narrative. It has a been a joy and pleasure to watch her sketches come to life and make these essays more than I ever expected.
If you are anything like me, when you see a picture on a page, you automatically pause and take it in.
You have to figure out how it plays into the text you’re reading, which can give you a deeper understanding of the book’s content.
Once you have read the essays in this book, I hope you will go back and look at the illustrated pages again, soaking in the pictures and using them to fill in the gaps of what I hope you were already
imagining from the text alone.
The Illustrations in this book not only look appealing, but they also make it more engaging and I hope that you the reader will take more time on each page. If you look close you will note that Chelsea is a master of including small details from the story.. all hidden in plain sight.
Hopefully each of the short essays included in this book teaches us something about life and I believe that the included visual storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to do just that.
If you are interested in seeing some of the photographs, and sketches that inspired Chelsea’s art feel free to visit our Facebook page @itmatteredtothem
Our mission here in Afghanistan wasn't just to build roads, streets and buildings but rather to change the hearts and minds of a nation who has been torn apart by war. In short, we tried to break the cycle of violence and provide the very basics of life including clean water, sewer systems, roads and schools.
It was not about the buildings we built or the miles of roads but rather the people we met, the jobs we created, and the friends we made while helping to rebuild a nation ravaged by war.
Most of the 600 men who came to us were farmers and herdsman and who had no previous construction background or skills. Many came to us with only the clothes on their backs and without shoes.
Each day we fed over 1200 meals and provided clothes and shoes for men who otherwise would not have had any. The average daily wage was 6 dollars American and while that may not sound like much in America but in Afghanistan that was a huge amount and by working, the men provided for their families.
My greatest memory will always be of the men and families we helped by providing jobs and being a positive role model as most Afghans had never met an American who was not armed with a gun or in uniform. The Afghans have lived a hard life and I have loved teaching them that it is OK to laugh, smile and hug...even in the middle of a war.
"The men came to us barefoot and without shoes. It broke my heart. We collected every pair we could find and an elder cobbler would work from sun up till sun down repairing the shoes so that everyone had a least one pair".
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