March 25, 2025 • 39 mins
Jill Kornetsky’s story is not your average tale about a woman from New England. Jill is one of a handful of Americans who the Taliban allow to live and work in Afghanistan. The young woman is a Harvard-trained laboratory scientist, a Brandeis-trained social scientist, and a US Department of State and Melikian Center Graduate Fellow in Persian Language and Culture, who founded the non-profit organization, Homestead Afghanistan. Her mission is to “address the urgent need to generate employment, increase incomes at the family level, and improve the safety, security, and resilience of Afghanistan’s rural communities.” Jill joined us on NightSide to discuss her unique calling in life and what her non-profit is trying to achieve in Kabul, Afghanistan.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Constance Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome back everyone along the path of life. Every once
in a while, you meet someone who is doing extraordinary
things in the last place on the face of the
earth that you would expect them to be doing extraordinary things.
And such is the case with my next guest, Jill Konetsky.
Jill is a Harvard trained laboratory scientist, a Brandeis trained
(00:30):
social scientist, a US Department of State and Melachian Center
Graduate Fellow in Persian Language and Culture, and a mensin
which means she's smart. Jill Konetsky also is from New England,
from Massachusetts, but in recent years she is called home Kabul, Afghanistan,
(00:57):
which is the last place that you would probably figure
you would find an American woman, but she is over
there with a project called Homestead Afghanistan. Jill, welcome back
to Nightside. How are you tonight, Hi.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Dan, And I'm well, thanks thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I'll tell you this is kind of an extraordinary
story and a year ago we had you and people
had questions and they are more than welcome to join
the conversation. But I just want to try to try
to put it in context, because I'm sure a lot
of people are either looking at their radio right now
or saying, who could this be an American woman living
(01:35):
in Kabul? In view of everything that I guess we
believe have been led to believe about Afghanistan. When did
you first get to Afghanistan? How when did you When
did you first touch the soil of Afghanistan?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Sure, so, I studied conflict and development, and there's a
few places on Earth where those two sectors interact very closely.
So I first went in twenty fifteen. I was working
on USAID doing monitoring and evaluation, which is sort of
post project reporting, making sure that people did what they
say they did and that it worked the way they
said it worked. So I stuck around. I worked in
(02:15):
anti corruption, and then I started my own NGO so
that I could do clean work on behalf of the people.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Now there was an Afghanistan government. The Taliban had been
forced out of Afghanistan for the most part back in
twenty fifteen.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Correct, Yeah, around twenty twenty one they were mostly pushed
into Pakistan, and then over time they sort of came
back in and deserted more influence. And that's where most
of the conflict was happening.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So when you got there in twenty fifteen, was there
an established government? Was the Taliban still ruling the region?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So there was it was called the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and that was President Karzai and
President Ghani, extremely well funded by the West. And yeah,
I remember.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
When Kusai came and spoke to a joint session of Congress.
Actually and Uh and all of that and a lot
of the leadership when we talked today in Afghanistan, Taliban
leadership ended up in a nearby country called cutter Uh
sort of after Pakistan. They were sort of a government
(03:36):
in exile or a potential government exile. Is that a
fair way to describe that politically?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
How they would describe themselves. They were in Qatar for
negotiations with the American government. The Afghan government was kind
of shut out, so it was mostly the Americans and
the Taliban at the table.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Okay, So so you're over there, and how many Westerners
when the first few years you were over there, say,
from twenty fifteen to twenty twenty, was there a pretty
significant footprint of Westerners, meaning, you know, people from America
and Europe over there.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Sure. Yeah. When I first went, I attended some security
breachings at the embassy, and at the time, outside of
the military, there was about twenty five thousand Americans in
various aid jobs and consultancies and contracting firms.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Okay, So then twenty twenty comes along and President Biden
it inherits from the first Trump White House some withdrawal agreements,
and I think all of us know that the that
the withdrawal in August of twenty twenty one went horribly
(04:58):
for Natalie US troops at the Abbey Gate, but also
for Afghan civilians, many of whom were hanging off of planes,
and it was a it was a nightmare. You were
there during that time, correct, Yes, it was, and you
(05:19):
for a while had to get out. If I recall
a previous conversation, you and some of your team had
to leave in difficult circumstances.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Yeah, that's right. My assistant, a local kid from a
farming village, was threatened by the Taliban on his farm
for working with quote the Americans, not me, you know
this one person so and his brother was assassinated the
night of the takeover. So at that point my focus
was getting him to safety, and.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Then you decided to go back. Just again. I want
to get to the cause that you are interested in promoting,
but I just want to make people understand, at some
point after the US withdrawal you decided to go back,
how difficult was that to accomplish and how dangerous was it.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Ironically, things are safer because the guys who are blowing
stuff up are in charge now, so they don't have
so much of a reason to blow stuff up anymore.
The visa was complicated. It took me about ten days
in Turkey to get that, but over time services has
improved for people to come and help. So now Turkish
airlines and Emirates fly direct. The systems for visas and
(06:42):
for business licenses have They sort of picked up where
the last government left off, so in that way things
are pretty straightforward.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So this is almost four years later, meaning four years
after the withdrawal, and your program, the title is Homestead Afghanistan.
Give us some idea about what your program does and
who it's intended to help. And then I wanted when
we get back after the break, talk about how well
(07:12):
you are accepted, received, tolerated, or whatever verb we might decide.
Ours tell us about hopes that Afghanistan exactly what are
you doing there? What is your cause? What is your passion?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Sure, so I worked in monitoring and evaluation and it's
a corruption So I got a really broad view of
what was happening in the country and what was working
wasn't working. And after that I started talking to Afghans,
not the elites, not the city folks, but just people
in villages about their lives and what they need. And
for all of the programming that we've done, they're still
(07:47):
hungry and they're still poor. And before we can focus
on school, before we can focus on AI and coding
and all these things, hungry kids can't learn. And sticks
out of seven curls never went to school and never
had a hope of going to school during the last government.
So we need to focus on the basics, in my opinion,
and we need to do it in a holistic way.
(08:08):
So you're not just giving food without a means of
growing more food, or you're not just giving an education
to hunger kids. You kind of need to look at
if you've heard of Maslow's hierarchy, just you need the
basics of survival before you can look up at higher ambitions.
So homestead Afghanistan is focused on self reliance and agricultural communities,
(08:31):
the places where aid never reached. You know, the aid
sort of concentrated in the cities and between ease of
access and corruption. That's kind of where the aid ended.
It never made it out to the poorest people. So
I think the answer to stability and to better lives
in general, and to a population that can make its
own decisions about its future, you can't focus on these
(08:54):
higher ambitions. You need to get them to a place
of stability first.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Okay. Now recollection, and I remember as a young boy
looking at some cards. They were like baseball cards of
the countries of the world, and I remembered how big
Afghanistan was. So I'm going to draw a parallel and
(09:17):
if you buy into a grade, if you don't, that's okay.
If you think of the United States as having the
great cities along the east coast of New York and
Washington and Philadelphia and Boston and Washington, d C. And
Atlanta and down to Miami. But if you think of
going maybe one thousand or fifteen hundred miles to the
(09:38):
west and find yourself in kind of rural areas of
America of Kansas and Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa, Illinois, Indiana.
Is that a similar analogy to what you're doing. You're
in Kabul, which is the capital, but the work that
you're doing really are for people who live in a
much more agrarian countryside. Is that analogy work at all?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Sure does. Some people call Kabble the kobubble because it
is so different from the rest of the country. It's
where the focus and modernization was and education was. In
these far out places, they really are sort of a
pre industrial revolution life. You know, there's if there's a shop,
it's one little shop. Otherwise there's no shops, there's no
(10:24):
theaters they're talking about.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
They're living in the nineteenth century at best. That best, yes, okay,
And those are the people who you're trying to help.
What's the population of Afghanistan these days? Is it one
hundred million or more?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Now it's about the side of Texas, and it's about
thirty five to forty million, depending on where the refugees
are in any particular day.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Gotcha, Okay. My guest is Jill Kuonetsky. She's an American
Harvard educated brandeis educated, a native of Massachusetts who now
finds her calling her cause in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is
one of the very few and we'll get into that
on the other side of the break here, one of
the very few Westerners who actually are living on the
(11:09):
ground in Kabul. She's back home for a little bit
of relaxation and catching up with her family. Uh, but
we'll soon be back there. So we'll soon be back
right after this break on nights Side. And if you'd
like to call and ask a question, you're more than
welcome six one seven, two, five four ten thirty or
six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. We'll be
(11:31):
back on Nightside. I can ask a lot of questions,
but don't assume that I'm going to ask the question
you're thinking of. Feel free to dial and join the
conversation back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
My guest is Joe Kornetski. She is an American in Cabool,
not an American in Paris, an American in London, and
an American in Kabul. So Jill, let me ask you,
what is your normal day like or do you have
a normal day when you're working for your nonprofit homestead Afghanistan?
(12:10):
How much of the country do you see? How much
are you, let us say, directed or monitored by by
the government or monitored at all?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Sure, I'm definitely monitored. I'm one of the few foreigners
there without that doesn't work for the UN or one
of the big orgs, So they are a bit curious
about me. And I've had the gd I in my
office on a pretty regular basis.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
What is GDI? What is that?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, that's the Intelligence Services. That's basically their FBI.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Okay, friend, is it all very formal?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
It's quite formal. Many of them won't look directly at me,
but it is quite polite because they're trying to attract
more aid and more foreign investment to develop the count
so they have a vested interest in being respectable to outsiders.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Do you ever feel well, let me ask you this,
how safe do you feel there? Obviously you know people
can be bothered and particularly women you know, who are
out anywhere in a major city. Are you allowed to
go out at night unescorted or do you have to
(13:31):
or get oh when the sun goes down? Are you
limited in terms of what you're able, were you able
to go at a certain time during the day. I'm
just kind of curious as to what your life is
like there.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, so foreigners get a bit different treatment than locals. Generally,
it's not super safe to go out at night, but
nobody's stopping me. I generally stick with friends and contacts
there at night, but my move freely. You know, there's
nobody stopping me from doing anything. They certainly know when
(14:04):
I leave town. I do have access to the entire country,
which I can't say I had before because of security.
So I have access to every district in province, proven access.
I've gone. I've driven from Kabo to Kandahar, to Harat
and back. I've got some sites in Mordac and I've
just came back from a research tip in Nangahar. So
(14:26):
I don't have a standard day. I'm a small engeo.
I'm trying to raise funds, so I spend a lot
of time writing proposals and taking meetings with potential partners,
local organizations, and so we're trying to get there. We've
got a good plan. We've got a plan to help
two hundred thousand families in twenty years if we can
(14:47):
get the resources we need and support and the idea
is to bring them a package of aid, a holistic
package of aid. It'll take some time and it's stayed
over a number of years, but hopefully it's the last
package of aban. It's the end of dependency, you know,
giving food back hits once a month. The WFP is
that they feed over five million people a month, which
(15:08):
is where those cash flights go. And that's great, but
it's a month to months. It's food, so you don't
die like we can get better.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I think it was but I think it was President
Reagan who say, you know, give a man a fish,
or give a person a fish, they eat for a day.
Teach them how to fish and they eat for a lifetime.
You're not teaching people how to fish, but you're teaching
people how to how to do agriculture. I guess that's
your goal and purpose. Correct.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, it's an agricultural countries, so they know how to farm.
The problem is it's so poor. They don't have any
money for inputs, they don't have money for better seeds,
improved seeds, and they're facing you know, the fifteenth year
of drought at least at this point. So it's a
cycle of the drought kills the plants, there's no rain,
then the rain comes and it's a flash fload which
(15:58):
strips the top soil. So they know how to farm.
They just they're in a situation where fathers have subdivided
lands amongst sons. So instead of having fifty acres, now
they have five acres, and now they have to try
to make enough food out of that. Plus the poppy
ban I just came back from talking to farmers and
herders and agahar and they most of them made a
(16:23):
decent amount of income off of pop. It's not really
used so much locally. I mean, there is a drug
problem in certain places, but it was just a cash crop.
It was a very valuable cash crop. They made very
little off of it, but they made enough to support
their family, to pay for livestock, to pay for seeds.
So without that, they've lost ninety five percent of their income.
(16:47):
And there isn't you can't make that up with wheat
or corn or you know.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
The poppy crop would create a heroin correct, yes, okay,
And putting aside the moral judgments that any of us
might have about that, what happened to the poppy crop.
Was it defoliated intentionally by Taliban or was it a
(17:13):
casualty of war? Why did the poppy crop diminish or disappear?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
We spent twenty years, the American military and the Afghan
government trying to get rid of poppy and it was
very ineffective because the farmers fought back, because they were
losing their income, and because quite frankly, the central government
didn't really care about it. Some of them engaged in
it themselves. Some of the parliamentarian, especially the Taliban, just
(17:41):
said you're not allowed to grow it anymore. And it's
an authoritarian government. People are pretty scared to go against them.
Though with rare exception, ninety percent of the crop has
stopped being grown.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Okay, Now, I assumed that that bean is probably now
still in effect with the pop with the Taliban in control.
I assumed that morally, whatever disagreements we might have with
how the Taliban governs the country, they probably are opposed
(18:14):
to the production of poppies and the poppy crop from
a religious point of view, I assume, which for them
is something that's not negotiable.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, they stopped producing in two thousands in a bid
to try to get the UN to cover their expenses
to they said to the UN, if you guys pay
for our development, we'll stop growing it. And they stopped
growing it for a year to prove that they could,
but the UN didn't support them. They went back to
growing it and a year later the war started. So
(18:48):
you know, the poppy goes back to the Mujahideen. It's
how the anti Soviet war was fueled. They grew and
sold a lot of poppy to fuel that war sort
of carried on through the warlords in the Taliban. They
all have a finger in that pie. So now they've
gone against it for religious reasons. I'm sure they've gone
(19:11):
against it to prove to the international community that they're serious. Yeah,
there's a lot of what they do that's about proving
they can govern, proving that they can be in charge
of things.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Okay, when we get back after the break, Jill, I
want to talk more specifically about homestead Afghanistan and what
people can do to help you and support you. Obviously,
from a the view of a social scientist, you're helping
people irrespective of their ideology or their religion or their history.
(19:45):
But from the view of a political scientist. It is helpful,
It would be helpful if Afghanistan could become a more
stable country and in not only there, but about in
other areas of that part of the world. So we'll
get to all of that, and we'll get to more phone.
We'll get to some phone call six one, seven, two, five,
(20:08):
four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
We'll be right back on night side. We're talking more
with my guess, Joe Kranetski, her project Homestead Afghanistan dot org.
If some of you would like to support that group. Uh,
we'll give an address later on and a webs well
we've given the website, give an address later on. I
(20:29):
feel free to This is a young American woman who
is she's been committed there now for almost ten years,
or are actually four ten years. So this is not
a fly by net operation by any matter. We'll be
back on nightside right after this with my guests, Joe Konetsky.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Delighted to be joined by Jill Kronetski, a native of Massachusetts,
Harvard and Brandei's educated. She's a Harvard trained laboratory scientist.
Brandi's trained social scientist. She has worked for the US
government on the ground in Afghanistan for the US Department
of State, and she now runs Homestead Afghanistan. Jill, just
(21:18):
a personal question if I could ask here, and how
often are you able to get back to America? And
do you ever try to listen to Night Side? We
have listeners literally all over the world, believe it or not.
And I don't know if you've ever tried to pull
us in in Afghanistan, but we also are podcasts are available,
so you can always kind of keep in touch with
(21:39):
home even when you're in Afghanistan. I hope that you've
at least entertained that idea. How often do you get
back here? Is it once a year or so or
even less frequently?
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Normally it's less frequently. It's pretty expensive, and I don't
you know, I don't have a big sponsor behind me,
so I don't actually draw a salary at this point volunteer.
But my parents missed me, so they sent me a
ticket this year and we'll try to do it once
a year, so that I concede him.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to remember if we talked a
year ago or two years ago. Do you recall offhand
whether it was twenty four or I want to think
it was the summer of twenty three.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I think it was about a year ago. I was
home working on my saffron company, which is a fundraiser
for homestead, So I think that's when we spoke.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Okay, and we're going to talk. We're going to talk
about that as well, saffron, which is a very expensive
spice that has only grown in Afghanistan. Well, I have
in aligned with me, your dad, who's very happy to
have you back home and is very proud of you.
So let me get him involved here, Larry. You must
be very proud of your daughter Jill and what she's doing. Oh,
(23:01):
I got to bring him up. I forgot to bring
him up, Larry. Welcome back to NIGHTSID. How are you.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Dan. My name is Larry, but I'm not her father.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Oh my goodness. You know what I thought? Her dad
is Larry and I misread it here Larry from West Roxbury.
I'm sorry, Larry. I just gave a quick look over
and I thought, oh gee, her dad's called dude. Larry.
You were you were on the air with not with
your daughter, but you're on the here with Joe Kruonetsky.
(23:34):
Go right ahead, Larry.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
I'm very taken by your chistmus Frenetsky. I'm a Farmer
Air Force officer and I've been in and out of
that part of the world since nineteen sixty one. And
Erry just sassage you must have massive the language reasonably
enough to get along. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I studied, Darry as you can stand for about a
year and then I speak well enough. I'm not fluent
and I'm always getting my tenses wrong, but I get
around enough to be understood.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Because that's that's a difficult path. And I compliment you
for that. That's that's that's very good, and that's the
only way that you can really continue to do what
you intend to do with some success, because you're going
to have that still. But I just wanted to say
to you that that's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Did you get a chance, Larry, to spend any time
in Kabul during your military career or in Afghanistan?
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Oh? I have, Yes. I'm a recon. I'm from a
Air Force officer in recon pilot and the fifty fifth
STRATEGI wing that flew the border of the Soviet Union,
and so I would travel back and forth between Istanbul,
sometimes going through Capitol on my way into Pakistan because
(25:01):
we operated out of Pakistan a lot of the time,
and in that place place called Insulictin in the eastern Turkey.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
But I just.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Wanted to ask you. I know that you started to
answered the question because mister Ray asked you, Miss Greenetsky
about but how do you keep safe? Is it really
that the United States is being looked at by Afghanistan
as they're looking for us to really help them by
helping their way trade and that kind of stuff, or
(25:37):
is that how you stay safe?
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Well, I think the Taliban is not relying on America
too much for political reasons and other reasons. I stay
safe by having a strong network. I when I speak
to the Taliban, I speak to them directly and honestly,
and I tell them what I'm doing and what my
intentions are. And because I don't have any strange intentions,
(26:02):
I just want to feed people and make sure people
have good lives. They're welcoming of that. I think they
don't get very much of that, so they're appreciative of.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
It and they want to no matter where you say,
that's been remarkable. I've been back under Afghanistan and that's remarkable.
And once again I compliment you for your efforts in
that regard, and that's really uh to be able to
work that situation in Afghanistan as an independent America, and
(26:33):
that's remarkable.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Well, Larry, I appreciate Caulk. Thank you for your service. Obviously,
what you did for this country for many years was
quite courageous. And I think what what my guest Jill
Kornetsky is doing is also in her own right way
to address.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Because I will send you a check, miskl Netsky.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I'll tell you what if you would be so kind, Larry,
would you since I Rob will go on the line
and he will take your email, and with your permission,
we will give your email to Jill and then she
can be directly in contact with you.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Okay, Okay, that's good.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Gratz, stay right there, and Jill, remember when we finish
up at ten o'clock, make sure that Rob will give
you Larry's email address. Well, that's great. Maybe there's some
others out there who would like to help what help
you in what you're doing, So let me come back
and I do want to get to a little bit
(27:33):
on the saffron. Saffron is a spice which is grown
in that part of the world, and you tell me
that the best saffron has grown. And when we talked
a year ago, whenever it was you actually were hoping
that the sale of saffron, the spice saffron back to
(27:53):
the US might help fund the humanitarian program that you're
engaged in. And for a whole lot of reasons, distance
and maybe complexity, that hasn't quite worked out. But you
still are hoping to be able because this spice is
quite expensive. Tell us a little bit about it, and
you still are hoping now to connect with with restaurants
(28:18):
back in the US which might have a greater need
for saffron. Tell us about it.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, so we did source really some amazing saffron, and
if it's the best in Afghanistan, it's probably the best
in the world. It's a startup, you know, and things
don't always go as fast as you would like. But
we are still working on it. It's available on Amazon.
The brand is called Benefit Spice, and we are still
(28:45):
working on that. I'm going to try to reach out
to restaurants. We're gonna try Whole Foods. We're gonna try
everybody we can, because if we can build it into
a strong company, I can stop trying to ask people
to donate and I can just do the work.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Okay, So it is still available. Then if people go
on too Amazon and looked for benefit beginning with a
be like a benefit a fundraiser, a benefits spice.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
That's correct, yep, So that's avaiable.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
To people who maybe fashion themselves as chefs or cooks,
but you also are looking to maybe partner with some
some restaurants or restaurant chained that how rare a spice
is saffron? I mean, obviously if it's only produced in
that part of the world, it is not something probably
(29:36):
that's readily available here in the States. I assume.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
It's very common in Spanish food, Mediterranean food, Italian food,
some Indian food, and Arabic food. So in a lot
of parts of the world it's more common than in America.
But I think foodies are familiar with it. It is
very rare. I won't say it's rare. It's this aamens
of a flour. So it takes about two hundred and
(30:03):
fifty thousand flowers to make a pound, and that's why,
and they're all hand harvested in Afghanistan that that job
is considered women's work, So almost every bit of saffron
from the country is supports women's employment, which is nice.
For a long time it was more expensive than gold.
(30:24):
Not anymore, but it is considered kind of a rare
spice and expensive spice. Takes a little bit to make
a dish and makes a great saffron chicken a greater
Ironian dish. But yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Assume that that you don't use much of it, it
must have a very powerful impact on the food. But
it's not like you're using a shake a full of saffron.
I assume at that point. It's probably you use it
very very slight and you're in cooking.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Yeah, you usually mix it with other spices and have
kind of like a grassy or a honey like smell
to it. Some people make tea with it just by itself,
but usually if you're making a saffron chicken or a
payea or any of those kinds of dishes, you're mixing
it with other spices and it sort of enhances those
other spices.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Excellent, excellent, Okay, we're going to take a break. We
got one more segment coming up to anyone else will
like to join the conversation six one seven, two, five
four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three one
ten thirty. Again, if you're interested in purchasing some spice
directly from Afghanistani, you can to go on Amazon and
look for benefit spice or uh. If you're interested in
(31:43):
doing with Larry for West Roxbury is indicated he will
do so generously, and we appreciate that. Homestead Afghanistan dot org.
All one word Homestead Afghanistan dot org. We'll take a
very quick break and we'll be back for concluding segment
with my guest Jill Konetsky, an amazing American woman who
(32:05):
has decided to live a large portion of her life
amongst the Afghan people. And I just think I stand
in awe of what she is doing, and she represents
truly what is the best about this country in my opinion,
Back on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Now back to Dan Way live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
All right, Jill, all of a sudden, the phone lines
have popped here on us, so let's try to get
a couple of folks in real quickly, and then we'll
give the again the address, the email address of Homestead, Afghanistan.
Let me go next to Laurie in Idaho. Laurie, one
of my most loyal listeners. Say hi to Jill Konetsky.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Luri, Hi Jill, how are you Hi? Laurie good, So I.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Am so I got to say that I'm so impressed
with what you've been doing. I heard your call last
year and I did order the saffron from Benefit Spice,
and I just want to say, it is such a
luxury what was gone, but such a luxury to have
it in my kitchen because I love it. I can't
always buy it. It was the three different purities or levels.
I'm not quite sure what the thing is. And I
love saffron and I love I do a lot of
Indian cooking, and I just I'm just so happy with it.
(33:23):
And I'm so glad that you're doing so well over there.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Thank you so much. I'm so glad to hear it.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
And Laurie is a cook, by the way, I want
you to know that's that's for real. Uh. She sometimes
tells me she listened to the show while she's cooking. Uh, Laurie,
thank you, thank you so much for supporting Jill's work.
That's really lovely gesture. And thanks for reaching out to
her tonight. She's an amazing well both of you two amazed,
(33:51):
two amazing women. I should put it like that.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Well, I just I appreciate her product, I appreciate what
she's doing, and thank you very much. And it was
when nice to hear her again, hear you again, thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
I think you must keep rolling. Here're going to go
to Edin Wooster. ED want to get you in quickly.
I have one other call behind you. Go ahead, ed
You next on Nice Side with Joe Konetski.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
Hi, I just had a question, what do you think
is the biggest misconception that Americans have about the Taliban.
The Taliban is more complicated than people think. That's not
to say they're different from before or any of those things,
but they have different motivations and they have different goals.
(34:33):
So I will say that most of what you see
on social media are here on social media, you're not
hearing from journalists. You're hearing from content creators. So there
is a sustained interest in creating disaster porn or trauma porn.
They get their livelihoods from clicks, So be careful what
you believe. Things are not great, but things are not
(34:55):
black and white, you know, they're Many of the problems
that we discuss now are pre existing. You know, child
marriage is not a Taliban invention. Selling children is not
a Taliban invention. Girls not being in school is not
a Taliban invention. So that's not to say they're humanitarians
or feminists or anything like that. But the place is
(35:16):
more complicated. It's not a cartoon. Most people see it
like a cartoon, and it's complex and there's a lot
of ironies. And unless you're willing to sort of invest
the time either going there or really studying it, the
story you're going to get is always going to be
sort of partial and simplified.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
That pretty good, pretty good question and a pretty good answer.
Thanks Buddy Rank, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay,
we do have your dad. I was going to finish
up here, Larry from Dennisport. No one is happier that
you're home than Larry from Dennisport. Larry, we only got
about a couple of minutes left. You must be very
proud of what Jill's doing.
Speaker 5 (35:56):
I'm only calling in Dan to thank you for interviewing
Joe and so and Jill. We are so proud of
you and we will let you continue with some questions.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Thanks Larry, your biggest fan. I wanted to ask Larry
how surprised he was when I was talking to Larry.
We have Jill's dad on the line here. He must
have figured where am I. We're going to get one
more in here, I think before the break. Jolene is
in Beverly. Joline. You were next on Night Time with
(36:29):
Joe Kronotsky.
Speaker 6 (36:30):
Go ahead, Jolene, Hello, Jill and Dan. So good to
hear you again. I listened last year when you were
on and told my daughter who works with Whole Foods
about it, and she said, oh my gosh, I think
we sell that saffron at our store. Just wondering if
you know, if you still do, and if I can
(36:53):
have your email for her to possibly be in contact
with you.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
We could do that. I will, I will have uh uh,
we'll give her, but we'll also have Rob give it
to you. So don't hang up, Okay, don't hang up,
you stay right there, hang on Okay, thank you very much.
Uh well, Jill, you've got you've got a lot of
fans here on night side, and rightfully so give us
(37:23):
the best way people could support Homestead Afghanistan. If they
wanted to make a donation. It's a simple website. They
can go and look it up and get all the
information they need. Correct.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
Yeah, the informations there. You can reach out to me.
It's a pretty basic website. We've pretty bottom basement on
the tech side, but you can certainly reach out to me.
I will say, you know, with the current funding environment
and with everything that's going on politically, I really do
need help. I need help connecting to corporate sponsors, h
n n W, i's family offices, foundations, people who can
(37:59):
do in time donations of agricultural supplies, anybody who can help.
We're certainly interested and open to it. And I'm happy
to be vetted by yourself and anybody you know. I'm
happy to answer questions. I'm not here to play games.
I'm here to do the work.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
So I've vetted you plenty. Believe me on this program,
and I am delighted to be associated with you. And
if there are people out there who represent stores, whether
it's you know, you know, high end type stores or whatever.
They also could get in contact with you easily at
(38:36):
homestead Afghanistan dot org.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Correct, Yeah, that would be great. We're not actually in
whole foods, so it's probably a different brand. But I
was just speaking to someone today about trying to develop
that contact because I think my supplier has a thousand
of kilograms ready to go. It's just a matter of
the packaging and the logistics and things. So yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
That's twenty two hundred pounds if I'm doing my work correctly.
So that's great. So Joe Lean will be in contact
with you, Larry from West Roxby will be in contact
with you, and I'm sure others will again. Homestead Afghanistan
dot org is the website. Jill, Thanks so much for
spending your time being as honest. Please stay safe, please
(39:22):
stay well, and we'll talk again, I hope and maybe
even meet you someday. Thank you so much for your time,
and thank you for your passion.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Well, thank you so much for your support, Dan, I
really appreciate it, and I thank your listeners for their
questions and or comments. It's really kind and I appreciate the.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Support, be well, safe travels.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You're very welcome. When we get back, we're going to
talk about the Trump administration and the faux pas at
a minimum, or was it much worse than a faull pa.
We will talk about that as best we know right
after the ten o'clock news here on night Side
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Constance Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome back everyone along the path of life. Every once
in a while, you meet someone who is doing extraordinary
things in the last place on the face of the
earth that you would expect them to be doing extraordinary things.
And such is the case with my next guest, Jill Konetsky.
Jill is a Harvard trained laboratory scientist, a Brandeis trained
(00:30):
social scientist, a US Department of State and Melachian Center
Graduate Fellow in Persian Language and Culture, and a mensin
which means she's smart. Jill Konetsky also is from New England,
from Massachusetts, but in recent years she is called home Kabul, Afghanistan,
(00:57):
which is the last place that you would probably figure
you would find an American woman, but she is over
there with a project called Homestead Afghanistan. Jill, welcome back
to Nightside. How are you tonight, Hi.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Dan, And I'm well, thanks thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I'll tell you this is kind of an extraordinary
story and a year ago we had you and people
had questions and they are more than welcome to join
the conversation. But I just want to try to try
to put it in context, because I'm sure a lot
of people are either looking at their radio right now
or saying, who could this be an American woman living
(01:35):
in Kabul? In view of everything that I guess we
believe have been led to believe about Afghanistan. When did
you first get to Afghanistan? How when did you When
did you first touch the soil of Afghanistan?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Sure, so, I studied conflict and development, and there's a
few places on Earth where those two sectors interact very closely.
So I first went in twenty fifteen. I was working
on USAID doing monitoring and evaluation, which is sort of
post project reporting, making sure that people did what they
say they did and that it worked the way they
said it worked. So I stuck around. I worked in
(02:15):
anti corruption, and then I started my own NGO so
that I could do clean work on behalf of the people.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Now there was an Afghanistan government. The Taliban had been
forced out of Afghanistan for the most part back in
twenty fifteen.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Correct, Yeah, around twenty twenty one they were mostly pushed
into Pakistan, and then over time they sort of came
back in and deserted more influence. And that's where most
of the conflict was happening.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So when you got there in twenty fifteen, was there
an established government? Was the Taliban still ruling the region?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So there was it was called the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and that was President Karzai and
President Ghani, extremely well funded by the West. And yeah,
I remember.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
When Kusai came and spoke to a joint session of Congress.
Actually and Uh and all of that and a lot
of the leadership when we talked today in Afghanistan, Taliban
leadership ended up in a nearby country called cutter Uh
sort of after Pakistan. They were sort of a government
(03:36):
in exile or a potential government exile. Is that a
fair way to describe that politically?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
How they would describe themselves. They were in Qatar for
negotiations with the American government. The Afghan government was kind
of shut out, so it was mostly the Americans and
the Taliban at the table.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Okay, So so you're over there, and how many Westerners
when the first few years you were over there, say,
from twenty fifteen to twenty twenty, was there a pretty
significant footprint of Westerners, meaning, you know, people from America
and Europe over there.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Sure. Yeah. When I first went, I attended some security
breachings at the embassy, and at the time, outside of
the military, there was about twenty five thousand Americans in
various aid jobs and consultancies and contracting firms.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Okay, So then twenty twenty comes along and President Biden
it inherits from the first Trump White House some withdrawal agreements,
and I think all of us know that the that
the withdrawal in August of twenty twenty one went horribly
(04:58):
for Natalie US troops at the Abbey Gate, but also
for Afghan civilians, many of whom were hanging off of planes,
and it was a it was a nightmare. You were
there during that time, correct, Yes, it was, and you
(05:19):
for a while had to get out. If I recall
a previous conversation, you and some of your team had
to leave in difficult circumstances.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Yeah, that's right. My assistant, a local kid from a
farming village, was threatened by the Taliban on his farm
for working with quote the Americans, not me, you know
this one person so and his brother was assassinated the
night of the takeover. So at that point my focus
was getting him to safety, and.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Then you decided to go back. Just again. I want
to get to the cause that you are interested in promoting,
but I just want to make people understand, at some
point after the US withdrawal you decided to go back,
how difficult was that to accomplish and how dangerous was it.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Ironically, things are safer because the guys who are blowing
stuff up are in charge now, so they don't have
so much of a reason to blow stuff up anymore.
The visa was complicated. It took me about ten days
in Turkey to get that, but over time services has
improved for people to come and help. So now Turkish
airlines and Emirates fly direct. The systems for visas and
(06:42):
for business licenses have They sort of picked up where
the last government left off, so in that way things
are pretty straightforward.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So this is almost four years later, meaning four years
after the withdrawal, and your program, the title is Homestead Afghanistan.
Give us some idea about what your program does and
who it's intended to help. And then I wanted when
we get back after the break, talk about how well
(07:12):
you are accepted, received, tolerated, or whatever verb we might decide.
Ours tell us about hopes that Afghanistan exactly what are
you doing there? What is your cause? What is your passion?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Sure, so I worked in monitoring and evaluation and it's
a corruption So I got a really broad view of
what was happening in the country and what was working
wasn't working. And after that I started talking to Afghans,
not the elites, not the city folks, but just people
in villages about their lives and what they need. And
for all of the programming that we've done, they're still
(07:47):
hungry and they're still poor. And before we can focus
on school, before we can focus on AI and coding
and all these things, hungry kids can't learn. And sticks
out of seven curls never went to school and never
had a hope of going to school during the last government.
So we need to focus on the basics, in my opinion,
and we need to do it in a holistic way.
(08:08):
So you're not just giving food without a means of
growing more food, or you're not just giving an education
to hunger kids. You kind of need to look at
if you've heard of Maslow's hierarchy, just you need the
basics of survival before you can look up at higher ambitions.
So homestead Afghanistan is focused on self reliance and agricultural communities,
(08:31):
the places where aid never reached. You know, the aid
sort of concentrated in the cities and between ease of
access and corruption. That's kind of where the aid ended.
It never made it out to the poorest people. So
I think the answer to stability and to better lives
in general, and to a population that can make its
own decisions about its future, you can't focus on these
(08:54):
higher ambitions. You need to get them to a place
of stability first.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Okay. Now recollection, and I remember as a young boy
looking at some cards. They were like baseball cards of
the countries of the world, and I remembered how big
Afghanistan was. So I'm going to draw a parallel and
(09:17):
if you buy into a grade, if you don't, that's okay.
If you think of the United States as having the
great cities along the east coast of New York and
Washington and Philadelphia and Boston and Washington, d C. And
Atlanta and down to Miami. But if you think of
going maybe one thousand or fifteen hundred miles to the
(09:38):
west and find yourself in kind of rural areas of
America of Kansas and Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa, Illinois, Indiana.
Is that a similar analogy to what you're doing. You're
in Kabul, which is the capital, but the work that
you're doing really are for people who live in a
much more agrarian countryside. Is that analogy work at all?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Sure does. Some people call Kabble the kobubble because it
is so different from the rest of the country. It's
where the focus and modernization was and education was. In
these far out places, they really are sort of a
pre industrial revolution life. You know, there's if there's a shop,
it's one little shop. Otherwise there's no shops, there's no
(10:24):
theaters they're talking about.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
They're living in the nineteenth century at best. That best, yes, okay,
And those are the people who you're trying to help.
What's the population of Afghanistan these days? Is it one
hundred million or more?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Now it's about the side of Texas, and it's about
thirty five to forty million, depending on where the refugees
are in any particular day.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Gotcha, Okay. My guest is Jill Kuonetsky. She's an American
Harvard educated brandeis educated, a native of Massachusetts who now
finds her calling her cause in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is
one of the very few and we'll get into that
on the other side of the break here, one of
the very few Westerners who actually are living on the
(11:09):
ground in Kabul. She's back home for a little bit
of relaxation and catching up with her family. Uh, but
we'll soon be back there. So we'll soon be back
right after this break on nights Side. And if you'd
like to call and ask a question, you're more than
welcome six one seven, two, five four ten thirty or
six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. We'll be
(11:31):
back on Nightside. I can ask a lot of questions,
but don't assume that I'm going to ask the question
you're thinking of. Feel free to dial and join the
conversation back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
My guest is Joe Kornetski. She is an American in Cabool,
not an American in Paris, an American in London, and
an American in Kabul. So Jill, let me ask you,
what is your normal day like or do you have
a normal day when you're working for your nonprofit homestead Afghanistan?
(12:10):
How much of the country do you see? How much
are you, let us say, directed or monitored by by
the government or monitored at all?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Sure, I'm definitely monitored. I'm one of the few foreigners
there without that doesn't work for the UN or one
of the big orgs, So they are a bit curious
about me. And I've had the gd I in my
office on a pretty regular basis.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
What is GDI? What is that?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, that's the Intelligence Services. That's basically their FBI.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Okay, friend, is it all very formal?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
It's quite formal. Many of them won't look directly at me,
but it is quite polite because they're trying to attract
more aid and more foreign investment to develop the count
so they have a vested interest in being respectable to outsiders.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Do you ever feel well, let me ask you this,
how safe do you feel there? Obviously you know people
can be bothered and particularly women you know, who are
out anywhere in a major city. Are you allowed to
go out at night unescorted or do you have to
(13:31):
or get oh when the sun goes down? Are you
limited in terms of what you're able, were you able
to go at a certain time during the day. I'm
just kind of curious as to what your life is
like there.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, so foreigners get a bit different treatment than locals. Generally,
it's not super safe to go out at night, but
nobody's stopping me. I generally stick with friends and contacts
there at night, but my move freely. You know, there's
nobody stopping me from doing anything. They certainly know when
(14:04):
I leave town. I do have access to the entire country,
which I can't say I had before because of security.
So I have access to every district in province, proven access.
I've gone. I've driven from Kabo to Kandahar, to Harat
and back. I've got some sites in Mordac and I've
just came back from a research tip in Nangahar. So
(14:26):
I don't have a standard day. I'm a small engeo.
I'm trying to raise funds, so I spend a lot
of time writing proposals and taking meetings with potential partners,
local organizations, and so we're trying to get there. We've
got a good plan. We've got a plan to help
two hundred thousand families in twenty years if we can
(14:47):
get the resources we need and support and the idea
is to bring them a package of aid, a holistic
package of aid. It'll take some time and it's stayed
over a number of years, but hopefully it's the last
package of aban. It's the end of dependency, you know,
giving food back hits once a month. The WFP is
that they feed over five million people a month, which
(15:08):
is where those cash flights go. And that's great, but
it's a month to months. It's food, so you don't
die like we can get better.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I think it was but I think it was President
Reagan who say, you know, give a man a fish,
or give a person a fish, they eat for a day.
Teach them how to fish and they eat for a lifetime.
You're not teaching people how to fish, but you're teaching
people how to how to do agriculture. I guess that's
your goal and purpose. Correct.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, it's an agricultural countries, so they know how to farm.
The problem is it's so poor. They don't have any
money for inputs, they don't have money for better seeds,
improved seeds, and they're facing you know, the fifteenth year
of drought at least at this point. So it's a
cycle of the drought kills the plants, there's no rain,
then the rain comes and it's a flash fload which
(15:58):
strips the top soil. So they know how to farm.
They just they're in a situation where fathers have subdivided
lands amongst sons. So instead of having fifty acres, now
they have five acres, and now they have to try
to make enough food out of that. Plus the poppy
ban I just came back from talking to farmers and
herders and agahar and they most of them made a
(16:23):
decent amount of income off of pop. It's not really
used so much locally. I mean, there is a drug
problem in certain places, but it was just a cash crop.
It was a very valuable cash crop. They made very
little off of it, but they made enough to support
their family, to pay for livestock, to pay for seeds.
So without that, they've lost ninety five percent of their income.
(16:47):
And there isn't you can't make that up with wheat
or corn or you know.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
The poppy crop would create a heroin correct, yes, okay,
And putting aside the moral judgments that any of us
might have about that, what happened to the poppy crop.
Was it defoliated intentionally by Taliban or was it a
(17:13):
casualty of war? Why did the poppy crop diminish or disappear?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
We spent twenty years, the American military and the Afghan
government trying to get rid of poppy and it was
very ineffective because the farmers fought back, because they were
losing their income, and because quite frankly, the central government
didn't really care about it. Some of them engaged in
it themselves. Some of the parliamentarian, especially the Taliban, just
(17:41):
said you're not allowed to grow it anymore. And it's
an authoritarian government. People are pretty scared to go against them.
Though with rare exception, ninety percent of the crop has
stopped being grown.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Okay, Now, I assumed that that bean is probably now
still in effect with the pop with the Taliban in control.
I assumed that morally, whatever disagreements we might have with
how the Taliban governs the country, they probably are opposed
(18:14):
to the production of poppies and the poppy crop from
a religious point of view, I assume, which for them
is something that's not negotiable.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, they stopped producing in two thousands in a bid
to try to get the UN to cover their expenses
to they said to the UN, if you guys pay
for our development, we'll stop growing it. And they stopped
growing it for a year to prove that they could,
but the UN didn't support them. They went back to
growing it and a year later the war started. So
(18:48):
you know, the poppy goes back to the Mujahideen. It's
how the anti Soviet war was fueled. They grew and
sold a lot of poppy to fuel that war sort
of carried on through the warlords in the Taliban. They
all have a finger in that pie. So now they've
gone against it for religious reasons. I'm sure they've gone
(19:11):
against it to prove to the international community that they're serious. Yeah,
there's a lot of what they do that's about proving
they can govern, proving that they can be in charge
of things.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Okay, when we get back after the break, Jill, I
want to talk more specifically about homestead Afghanistan and what
people can do to help you and support you. Obviously,
from a the view of a social scientist, you're helping
people irrespective of their ideology or their religion or their history.
(19:45):
But from the view of a political scientist. It is helpful,
It would be helpful if Afghanistan could become a more
stable country and in not only there, but about in
other areas of that part of the world. So we'll
get to all of that, and we'll get to more phone.
We'll get to some phone call six one, seven, two, five,
(20:08):
four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
We'll be right back on night side. We're talking more
with my guess, Joe Kranetski, her project Homestead Afghanistan dot org.
If some of you would like to support that group. Uh,
we'll give an address later on and a webs well
we've given the website, give an address later on. I
(20:29):
feel free to This is a young American woman who
is she's been committed there now for almost ten years,
or are actually four ten years. So this is not
a fly by net operation by any matter. We'll be
back on nightside right after this with my guests, Joe Konetsky.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Delighted to be joined by Jill Kronetski, a native of Massachusetts,
Harvard and Brandei's educated. She's a Harvard trained laboratory scientist.
Brandi's trained social scientist. She has worked for the US
government on the ground in Afghanistan for the US Department
of State, and she now runs Homestead Afghanistan. Jill, just
(21:18):
a personal question if I could ask here, and how
often are you able to get back to America? And
do you ever try to listen to Night Side? We
have listeners literally all over the world, believe it or not.
And I don't know if you've ever tried to pull
us in in Afghanistan, but we also are podcasts are available,
so you can always kind of keep in touch with
(21:39):
home even when you're in Afghanistan. I hope that you've
at least entertained that idea. How often do you get
back here? Is it once a year or so or
even less frequently?
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Normally it's less frequently. It's pretty expensive, and I don't
you know, I don't have a big sponsor behind me,
so I don't actually draw a salary at this point volunteer.
But my parents missed me, so they sent me a
ticket this year and we'll try to do it once
a year, so that I concede him.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to remember if we talked a
year ago or two years ago. Do you recall offhand
whether it was twenty four or I want to think
it was the summer of twenty three.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I think it was about a year ago. I was
home working on my saffron company, which is a fundraiser
for homestead, So I think that's when we spoke.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Okay, and we're going to talk. We're going to talk
about that as well, saffron, which is a very expensive
spice that has only grown in Afghanistan. Well, I have
in aligned with me, your dad, who's very happy to
have you back home and is very proud of you.
So let me get him involved here, Larry. You must
be very proud of your daughter Jill and what she's doing. Oh,
(23:01):
I got to bring him up. I forgot to bring
him up, Larry. Welcome back to NIGHTSID. How are you.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Dan. My name is Larry, but I'm not her father.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Oh my goodness. You know what I thought? Her dad
is Larry and I misread it here Larry from West Roxbury.
I'm sorry, Larry. I just gave a quick look over
and I thought, oh gee, her dad's called dude. Larry.
You were you were on the air with not with
your daughter, but you're on the here with Joe Kruonetsky.
(23:34):
Go right ahead, Larry.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
I'm very taken by your chistmus Frenetsky. I'm a Farmer
Air Force officer and I've been in and out of
that part of the world since nineteen sixty one. And
Erry just sassage you must have massive the language reasonably
enough to get along. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I studied, Darry as you can stand for about a
year and then I speak well enough. I'm not fluent
and I'm always getting my tenses wrong, but I get
around enough to be understood.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Because that's that's a difficult path. And I compliment you
for that. That's that's that's very good, and that's the
only way that you can really continue to do what
you intend to do with some success, because you're going
to have that still. But I just wanted to say
to you that that's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Did you get a chance, Larry, to spend any time
in Kabul during your military career or in Afghanistan?
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Oh? I have, Yes. I'm a recon. I'm from a
Air Force officer in recon pilot and the fifty fifth
STRATEGI wing that flew the border of the Soviet Union,
and so I would travel back and forth between Istanbul,
sometimes going through Capitol on my way into Pakistan because
(25:01):
we operated out of Pakistan a lot of the time,
and in that place place called Insulictin in the eastern Turkey.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
But I just.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Wanted to ask you. I know that you started to
answered the question because mister Ray asked you, Miss Greenetsky
about but how do you keep safe? Is it really
that the United States is being looked at by Afghanistan
as they're looking for us to really help them by
helping their way trade and that kind of stuff, or
(25:37):
is that how you stay safe?
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Well, I think the Taliban is not relying on America
too much for political reasons and other reasons. I stay
safe by having a strong network. I when I speak
to the Taliban, I speak to them directly and honestly,
and I tell them what I'm doing and what my
intentions are. And because I don't have any strange intentions,
(26:02):
I just want to feed people and make sure people
have good lives. They're welcoming of that. I think they
don't get very much of that, so they're appreciative of.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
It and they want to no matter where you say,
that's been remarkable. I've been back under Afghanistan and that's remarkable.
And once again I compliment you for your efforts in
that regard, and that's really uh to be able to
work that situation in Afghanistan as an independent America, and
(26:33):
that's remarkable.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Well, Larry, I appreciate Caulk. Thank you for your service. Obviously,
what you did for this country for many years was
quite courageous. And I think what what my guest Jill
Kornetsky is doing is also in her own right way
to address.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Because I will send you a check, miskl Netsky.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I'll tell you what if you would be so kind, Larry,
would you since I Rob will go on the line
and he will take your email, and with your permission,
we will give your email to Jill and then she
can be directly in contact with you.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Okay, Okay, that's good.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Gratz, stay right there, and Jill, remember when we finish
up at ten o'clock, make sure that Rob will give
you Larry's email address. Well, that's great. Maybe there's some
others out there who would like to help what help
you in what you're doing, So let me come back
and I do want to get to a little bit
(27:33):
on the saffron. Saffron is a spice which is grown
in that part of the world, and you tell me
that the best saffron has grown. And when we talked
a year ago, whenever it was you actually were hoping
that the sale of saffron, the spice saffron back to
(27:53):
the US might help fund the humanitarian program that you're
engaged in. And for a whole lot of reasons, distance
and maybe complexity, that hasn't quite worked out. But you
still are hoping to be able because this spice is
quite expensive. Tell us a little bit about it, and
you still are hoping now to connect with with restaurants
(28:18):
back in the US which might have a greater need
for saffron. Tell us about it.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, so we did source really some amazing saffron, and
if it's the best in Afghanistan, it's probably the best
in the world. It's a startup, you know, and things
don't always go as fast as you would like. But
we are still working on it. It's available on Amazon.
The brand is called Benefit Spice, and we are still
(28:45):
working on that. I'm going to try to reach out
to restaurants. We're gonna try Whole Foods. We're gonna try
everybody we can, because if we can build it into
a strong company, I can stop trying to ask people
to donate and I can just do the work.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Okay, So it is still available. Then if people go
on too Amazon and looked for benefit beginning with a
be like a benefit a fundraiser, a benefits spice.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
That's correct, yep, So that's avaiable.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
To people who maybe fashion themselves as chefs or cooks,
but you also are looking to maybe partner with some
some restaurants or restaurant chained that how rare a spice
is saffron? I mean, obviously if it's only produced in
that part of the world, it is not something probably
(29:36):
that's readily available here in the States. I assume.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
It's very common in Spanish food, Mediterranean food, Italian food,
some Indian food, and Arabic food. So in a lot
of parts of the world it's more common than in America.
But I think foodies are familiar with it. It is
very rare. I won't say it's rare. It's this aamens
of a flour. So it takes about two hundred and
(30:03):
fifty thousand flowers to make a pound, and that's why,
and they're all hand harvested in Afghanistan that that job
is considered women's work, So almost every bit of saffron
from the country is supports women's employment, which is nice.
For a long time it was more expensive than gold.
(30:24):
Not anymore, but it is considered kind of a rare
spice and expensive spice. Takes a little bit to make
a dish and makes a great saffron chicken a greater
Ironian dish. But yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Assume that that you don't use much of it, it
must have a very powerful impact on the food. But
it's not like you're using a shake a full of saffron.
I assume at that point. It's probably you use it
very very slight and you're in cooking.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Yeah, you usually mix it with other spices and have
kind of like a grassy or a honey like smell
to it. Some people make tea with it just by itself,
but usually if you're making a saffron chicken or a
payea or any of those kinds of dishes, you're mixing
it with other spices and it sort of enhances those
other spices.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Excellent, excellent, Okay, we're going to take a break. We
got one more segment coming up to anyone else will
like to join the conversation six one seven, two, five
four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three one
ten thirty. Again, if you're interested in purchasing some spice
directly from Afghanistani, you can to go on Amazon and
look for benefit spice or uh. If you're interested in
(31:43):
doing with Larry for West Roxbury is indicated he will
do so generously, and we appreciate that. Homestead Afghanistan dot org.
All one word Homestead Afghanistan dot org. We'll take a
very quick break and we'll be back for concluding segment
with my guest Jill Konetsky, an amazing American woman who
(32:05):
has decided to live a large portion of her life
amongst the Afghan people. And I just think I stand
in awe of what she is doing, and she represents
truly what is the best about this country in my opinion,
Back on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Now back to Dan Way live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
All right, Jill, all of a sudden, the phone lines
have popped here on us, so let's try to get
a couple of folks in real quickly, and then we'll
give the again the address, the email address of Homestead, Afghanistan.
Let me go next to Laurie in Idaho. Laurie, one
of my most loyal listeners. Say hi to Jill Konetsky.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Luri, Hi Jill, how are you Hi? Laurie good, So I.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Am so I got to say that I'm so impressed
with what you've been doing. I heard your call last
year and I did order the saffron from Benefit Spice,
and I just want to say, it is such a
luxury what was gone, but such a luxury to have
it in my kitchen because I love it. I can't
always buy it. It was the three different purities or levels.
I'm not quite sure what the thing is. And I
love saffron and I love I do a lot of
Indian cooking, and I just I'm just so happy with it.
(33:23):
And I'm so glad that you're doing so well over there.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Thank you so much. I'm so glad to hear it.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
And Laurie is a cook, by the way, I want
you to know that's that's for real. Uh. She sometimes
tells me she listened to the show while she's cooking. Uh, Laurie,
thank you, thank you so much for supporting Jill's work.
That's really lovely gesture. And thanks for reaching out to
her tonight. She's an amazing well both of you two amazed,
(33:51):
two amazing women. I should put it like that.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Well, I just I appreciate her product, I appreciate what
she's doing, and thank you very much. And it was
when nice to hear her again, hear you again, thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
I think you must keep rolling. Here're going to go
to Edin Wooster. ED want to get you in quickly.
I have one other call behind you. Go ahead, ed
You next on Nice Side with Joe Konetski.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
Hi, I just had a question, what do you think
is the biggest misconception that Americans have about the Taliban.
The Taliban is more complicated than people think. That's not
to say they're different from before or any of those things,
but they have different motivations and they have different goals.
(34:33):
So I will say that most of what you see
on social media are here on social media, you're not
hearing from journalists. You're hearing from content creators. So there
is a sustained interest in creating disaster porn or trauma porn.
They get their livelihoods from clicks, So be careful what
you believe. Things are not great, but things are not
(34:55):
black and white, you know, they're Many of the problems
that we discuss now are pre existing. You know, child
marriage is not a Taliban invention. Selling children is not
a Taliban invention. Girls not being in school is not
a Taliban invention. So that's not to say they're humanitarians
or feminists or anything like that. But the place is
(35:16):
more complicated. It's not a cartoon. Most people see it
like a cartoon, and it's complex and there's a lot
of ironies. And unless you're willing to sort of invest
the time either going there or really studying it, the
story you're going to get is always going to be
sort of partial and simplified.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
That pretty good, pretty good question and a pretty good answer.
Thanks Buddy Rank, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay,
we do have your dad. I was going to finish
up here, Larry from Dennisport. No one is happier that
you're home than Larry from Dennisport. Larry, we only got
about a couple of minutes left. You must be very
proud of what Jill's doing.
Speaker 5 (35:56):
I'm only calling in Dan to thank you for interviewing
Joe and so and Jill. We are so proud of
you and we will let you continue with some questions.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Thanks Larry, your biggest fan. I wanted to ask Larry
how surprised he was when I was talking to Larry.
We have Jill's dad on the line here. He must
have figured where am I. We're going to get one
more in here, I think before the break. Jolene is
in Beverly. Joline. You were next on Night Time with
(36:29):
Joe Kronotsky.
Speaker 6 (36:30):
Go ahead, Jolene, Hello, Jill and Dan. So good to
hear you again. I listened last year when you were
on and told my daughter who works with Whole Foods
about it, and she said, oh my gosh, I think
we sell that saffron at our store. Just wondering if
you know, if you still do, and if I can
(36:53):
have your email for her to possibly be in contact
with you.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
We could do that. I will, I will have uh uh,
we'll give her, but we'll also have Rob give it
to you. So don't hang up, Okay, don't hang up,
you stay right there, hang on Okay, thank you very much.
Uh well, Jill, you've got you've got a lot of
fans here on night side, and rightfully so give us
(37:23):
the best way people could support Homestead Afghanistan. If they
wanted to make a donation. It's a simple website. They
can go and look it up and get all the
information they need. Correct.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
Yeah, the informations there. You can reach out to me.
It's a pretty basic website. We've pretty bottom basement on
the tech side, but you can certainly reach out to me.
I will say, you know, with the current funding environment
and with everything that's going on politically, I really do
need help. I need help connecting to corporate sponsors, h
n n W, i's family offices, foundations, people who can
(37:59):
do in time donations of agricultural supplies, anybody who can help.
We're certainly interested and open to it. And I'm happy
to be vetted by yourself and anybody you know. I'm
happy to answer questions. I'm not here to play games.
I'm here to do the work.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
So I've vetted you plenty. Believe me on this program,
and I am delighted to be associated with you. And
if there are people out there who represent stores, whether
it's you know, you know, high end type stores or whatever.
They also could get in contact with you easily at
(38:36):
homestead Afghanistan dot org.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Correct, Yeah, that would be great. We're not actually in
whole foods, so it's probably a different brand. But I
was just speaking to someone today about trying to develop
that contact because I think my supplier has a thousand
of kilograms ready to go. It's just a matter of
the packaging and the logistics and things. So yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
That's twenty two hundred pounds if I'm doing my work correctly.
So that's great. So Joe Lean will be in contact
with you, Larry from West Roxby will be in contact
with you, and I'm sure others will again. Homestead Afghanistan
dot org is the website. Jill, Thanks so much for
spending your time being as honest. Please stay safe, please
(39:22):
stay well, and we'll talk again, I hope and maybe
even meet you someday. Thank you so much for your time,
and thank you for your passion.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Well, thank you so much for your support, Dan, I
really appreciate it, and I thank your listeners for their
questions and or comments. It's really kind and I appreciate the.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Support, be well, safe travels.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You're very welcome. When we get back, we're going to
talk about the Trump administration and the faux pas at
a minimum, or was it much worse than a faull pa.
We will talk about that as best we know right
after the ten o'clock news here on night Side
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