Land of love and culture – Sutara Arian visits her native land Afghanistan

Michell Spoden — So often we hear about and see Afghanistan in major media outlets as a country teeming with violence and terror, not to say the lower status of women who are always under threat from militants. But is that the ground reality for a resident of Afghanistan in his/her daily life?

[caption id="attachment_17640" align="alignright" width="196"] Sutara Arian in traditional Afghan dress[/caption]

A young Afghan woman Sutara Arian answers this question and more about Afghanistan as she recently took a trip to see her home country for the first time since she moved to Australia at the age of 3 along with her family. As a person from media, Sutara finds Afghanistan a land of love, kindness, and peace in daily life. Let’s see how Sutara describes her experience of visiting her native land.

Michell: Sutara, please tell us a little about yourself. What media have you worked for and are currently working for?

Sutara: By occupation, I am an actress and film producer and TV show host. I am currently living in Melbourne, Australia, and I have been in the field of media my whole life and have worked in radio and television and film. Currently I am working on a new movie and also my television show on Channel 31 Melbourne, which is called Sutara TV, and I am also the producer of the show. I graduated from Monash University in the field of Media Communications and Journalism.

Michell: Recently you took a trip to Afghanistan. Can you tell us why you chose this destination?

Sutara: Yes, I recently travelled to Kabul Afghanistan and it was the most memorable trip of my life. It was one place which I have wanted to go for years and finally got the chance. The reason was mainly that I was getting a lot of requests from the great people there that I must visit my country and in the past, due to work and studies, I didn’t get a chance. I also have many relatives there to see as well. I had not seen my country since I was 3 years old and we left due to the war; however, now the situation has really improved and I can call it one of my holiday destinations. All the people were so supportive there and I appeared on some great television programs as well and I hope to go back in the future and work for my country and work with the youth to bring about some change. I also brought back some footages of Kabul to show our viewers in Australia that my country is not what the media portrays it as to be. The media in the past and currently are only showing the negative aspects and overdramatizing events. But when I went there, I saw with my own eyes how my people are caring, loving, and the most kind.

Michell: Can you please tell us how you put your tip together? An what was the weather like in Afghanistan when you landed there?

Sutara: The trip was booked through a travel agent; however, travel to the rest of the places I visited was organized by myself.

Michell: How long did you stay there? Did you interview people or just explored the place? What cities or destinations within Afghanistan did you visit and enjoy?

Sutara: I was in Kabul, Afghanistan, for two weeks and as I said, I brought back some footages for the viewers of my TV program and we got footages from different areas and the beautiful restaurants and shopping centers. The city has really developed well and looks just amazing. Some of the shopping centers and locations are hard to even find in the western countries.

Michell: Did you feel safe while there? What was the general atmosphere like? Do people feel safe, given that we hear of so many terrorist threats there?

Sutara: You know, like I said before, the mainstream media are doing their best to do their damages to one country. It is not really like what the land of Afghans is being portrayed – terror, violence, drugs etc. It is really not fair how the media is doing this.

When I first planned to go there, I was a bit worried because I was getting emails and calls telling me to cancel my ticket; that it is the most dangerous country and people have gone and been kidnapped and killed, and more. Therefore, I decided to not listen, to talk, but to go and see the place myself. I was sure it could not be such a harsh place. But once I got on plane from Dubai to Kabul, I saw that this kind of hospitality is hard to find. At the airport, the staff was all so kind and respectful.
And visiting each place during the two weeks, I felt totally safe; even though I had the option of taking security, I chose not to when I was going outside. There is no need to overdramatize a situation. It is very safe to live a happy life there. Most people there are working and have businesses and running their normal lives just like the rest of us in other countries. And even though they have been through a lot of hardship in the past they still maintain their good behavior, respect, culture, friendliness, and love.

Michell: What is the general status of women in Afghanistan? Do they have freedom to education and work? Do they participate in daily life outside houses?

Sutara: We have to all understand that Afghan women have as much rights as the women in other countries. And the status of freedom varies for each individual and group. But overall, there is freedom for them to first of all gain education in school and university, and to take on the careers of their choice. There are women working in all professions and I am so proud that they are in all fields such as politics, medicine, teaching, engineering, music and all arts. Of course the women need more support to reach high levels and I am still proud of them and their strength.

Michell: The video you put together is very nice. Can you tell us what was the best part of your trip to Afghanistan?

Sutara: Wow, this is the hardest question because every moment there was the best for me. Mainly I can say that the best thing was seeing all my people, my country; it was an amazing feeling because it had always been my dream to visit my country. They have always supported me in my media activities and to visit them was wonderful. And secondly, the food, the culture, and the shopping were incomparable.

Michell: If anyone is planning a trip there themselves, particularly women, what sort of things would you recommend?

Sutara: I encourage everyone to visit Afghanistan; there should be no fear. They simply have to stay safe wherever they are and follow the rules there and respect the way of living there.

Michell: After all the war and militancy in that beautiful land, are the people there (particularly young people) hopeful that their homeland will recover and flourish?

Sutara: Definitely Yes! It is already on the rise of recovery as I have seen and you can see also in the video which I have brought back. There are young people working hard to bring positive changes and my support is always with them. Everyone has a lot of hope that one day our country can be fully in peace and God take away the enemies of our land.
I attended one event called “Masterpiece Music” above war, which can also be found on YouTube. And that is also encouraging young people that we must work together and through our art – be it music, sport, film – we can get our message across and put it into practice to bring some changes.
I am hoping that on my next trip, which will be longer, I can come up with some project for young people to get involved in and work toward helping our country.

Michell: Thank you very much Sutara for sharing your thoughts with our readers! If you have a website to share with our readers, please include it here.

Sutara: Thank you so much Michell and thank you to all the readers. You can find my trip to Afghanistan video at the following links and keep updated with me on Facebook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ1YFvKd4-s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhI2pMj42Fo
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sutara-Arian/115492808466733?ref=hl

 

About the Interviewer

About the interviewer:  Michell Spoden is the author of Stricken Yet Crowned and is also pursuing a transitional housing project for woman with an agricultural aspect. She has a degree in Business Science Administration and is finishing her bachelor’s in Project Management