Live footage on TV of the fighting near the Parliament building.

I was completely unaware of the attacks in Kabul today until much later in the afternoon. Our office is far from the areas targeted in a normal, very Afghan part of the city. No embassies, international NGOs, or political offices.

Some young men, this afternoon, were trying something; filled with fear, rage and hopelessness. I thought about the poor victims, their families. And then I wondered about the lives of these fighters. How dark and confused must their way be? 6 men against national and international armies isn’t a fair fight, and they know it. They know that the most they can do is to disrupt things for a day or two before dying in the fight. It saddens me that no one had a candle for them. No one could help them see a future worth living for. They had given up on life.

The actors discussing one of the activities with each other.

The 3 new theater groups, from Herat, Khost, and Baghlan provinces, are creative, intelligent and passionate about their work. They have no illusions about the problems they face, but they are convinced that through creativity, through hopeful and truthful dialogue, they can move towards unity.

They are committed to trying something too.