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Shelly P wrote: These are beautiful photos. posted 6/17/2010 at 2:51 PM

Jen C wrote: Alan, this are such cool pictures and such an amazing idea for a project. I think that it is stuff like this that really creates the roots to eliminate hatred and racism. It is the opportunities that allow us to connect to individuals from a different places, cultures and communities. We are given the chance to see one another not as the "other", but as another human and another teenager. It allows us to see that none of us are all that different. In terms of kids being resilient, I believe that they are, but only to an extent. We cannot expect anyone, much less kids to forget some of the violence that people witness around the world. Also, I think that some of the real power of kids is their ability not to forget, but to see stuff from an innocent perspective. It is not their power to forget, but to forgive. posted 6/17/2010 at 4:27 PM

Alan C wrote: Zen Master Jen wrote: It is not their power to forget, but to forgive. Awesome point! posted 6/17/2010 at 5:20 PM

Brett E wrote: so cool posted 6/17/2010 at 7:29 PM

Dawn E wrote: I love these photos!!! posted 6/18/2010 at 9:55 AM

Chanti C wrote: When you asked us, as readers, "What happens when you give cameras to a group of Kabul teens?" and then followed with: "You see Afghanistan not as a place of war and violence, but as a country where children still play and life carries on," I couldn't agree more. No matter where we are, simple beauty is easily recognizable. That's why I didn't really like the comment offered on Photo number 6 (the picture of the boy flying a kite), where the man in charge of the project said: "It's easy to find the poverty. It's a little harder to find the beauty, but if you look hard enough, you'll find that it's there." That doesn't resonate well with me; I believe we don't need to look hard to see the beauty -- it is bountiful and always around us -- a landscape, a market, a simple smile from a stranger, colors, lines, angles -- it's everywhere. I didn't look at a single one of those photos and think "poverty!" "strife!" Did you? Was that the lens that this adult was trying to spin on these images? That the poverty is rampant but that if you squint hard enough, you can break through and see the joy and normalcy of daily routine that still exists in these communities, as war-torn they may be? I like that this project involves youth and highlights the lens and the way in which they see their communities -- I think we need to be wary of making assumptions and statements about places which don't lend truth to the full situation (or only seeing part of a reality and neglecting to discover the other half of the equation), especially if we are outsiders and not native to these communities. I have to wonder, is it easier for children to see those simple truths and beauties? Do adults have a harder time recognizing the simple pleasures in life, small moments of happiness -- and are we less forgiving? I don't know if children are more resilient in the face of strife, but I would venture that, as Jen said, with a more innocent perspective, life may look a little rosier. posted 6/18/2010 at 12:22 PM