Sustainable Tech 4 Good was honoured to sponsor the Lyse Doucet A People’s History of Afghanistan event as part of the Cambridge Literary Festival’s winter programme. Lyse Doucet, the BBC Chief International Correspondent, was talking about her new book The Finest Hotel in Kabul where she traces a history of the people of Afghanistan through the story of the Inter-Continental Kabul Hotel, Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel, and the people who work there.
The hotel opened in 1969, and since has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. Lyse Doucet’s book focuses on the ordinary Afghans who keep the hotel going despite so much war and unrest, suicide bombs, and killings of both staff and guests. She has been regularly checking into the hotel since 1988 and across the decades since has got to know its staff very well.
The event was fascinating, with Lyse Doucet coming across as very warm and approachable, speaking about her years of experience in Afghanistan, holding the audience’s attention throughout. It is clear that she finds the country very beautiful and the ordinary Afghan people to be kind and happy, in marked contrast to the destruction and devastation that they live alongside. Her account of the man who ran the hotel and cycled there every day for many years until he was no longer able because he had been blown off his bicycle was deeply moving.The event was live streamed to Afghan girls, who had also sent some questions, through the Victory Afghanistan charity, which works to empower young women in Afghanistan through online education.
Listening to Lyse Doucet demonstrated a very touching, personal and human side to Afghanistan, a vastly different perspective to the normal news headlines we consume. At Sustainable Tech 4 Good, we have been helping refugees from Afghanistan, as well as from many other countries, with devices to help them keep in touch with their loved ones, continue education and access services to help them rebuild their lives after the trauma of having to flee their home country.
Getting such a wonderful perspective on the lives of ordinary Afghans, their resilience, and the beauty of their country was a very special thing. Sustainable Tech 4 Good was delighted to be able to sponsor such a great event, and we very much hope that it has helped spotlight needs and garner people to help, armed with a more informed and human understanding of the Afghan people.
Susan Gowling – Sustainable Tech 4 Good Founder