By James Hyatt
Peggy Kelsey, founder of the Afghan Women’s Project, will present her photographs and discuss the world of Afghan women at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton on Saturday March 16 at 7:30 pm. The talk, co-sponsored with the Coalition for Peace Action, will take place at the Unitarian Society, 50 Cherry Hill Road. Kelsey launched her Afghan Women’s Project in 2002 after meeting a delegation of 14 Afghan women on a visit to her hometown, Austin, Texas. The experience inspired her to use her professional photography experience to explore how Afghan women are building and rebuilding their lives. Kelsey recently published her photos and interviews in her book Gathering Strength: Conversations with Afghan Women. Her presentation is based on trips to Afghanistan in 2003 and 2010, and includes narrative histories of women ranging from a defense lawyer, women prisoners, human rights professionals and parliamentarians, among others. Many women, she found, have “dedicated themselves to the uncorrupted rebuilding of their country” and to aiding “those less well off than themselves.” The women she met “wanted to show that their country was much more than just war and terrorism.” Copies of her book will be available for purchase. Admission is free. Donations will be forwarded to the Afghan Women’s Education center which offers literacy classes, vocational training, a micro-credit program and a medical clinic/health education center. For further information, email [email protected].

