Ouch!

The Truth is . . . Scorpions! from Ryan Alexiev on Vimeo.

A lighthearted Truth Booth video in English filmed at Babur Gardens. We're busy translating the others which are mostly in Dari and Pashto.

The Truth Booth team at Qargha lake

From left: Antoinette deJong and Ian MacWilliam (from FreePress Unlimited), Jim Ricks and Ryan Alexiev (from Cause Collective).

Qargha Lake

Qargha lake was the site of a major terrorist attack last year by the Taliban. We're scoping the site right now as a potential Truth Booth location. Very secure now and a favorite place for people from Kabul to picnic and swim.

Qargha Hookahs

Translation: No swimming*

*Not because it's dangerous, just deep. Most Afghans can't swim and there were a lot of drownings. 

Bought us some melon!

Melons are in season out here and a lot of different kinds . . . endless stands, endless melons.

Coming soon... Kabul University

Next site for the Truth Booth. Kabul University is very nice and green, in contrast to a very, very dusty Kabul.

Mosque, Kabul

Bagh-e Babur

This is a still from one of the videos taken inside the Truth Booth at Babur Gardens (Bagh-e Babur). The booth was up for about four hours and we got over 60 Truth vids. Great day!

Games

This game is called Carrom and seems really popular. There were tables all over Babur Gardens. Kind of like some old school air hockey.

The Gardens of Babur: The first spot for the Truth Booth.

Built in 1528 for Babur, the first Mughal emperor, the gardens are the most popular destination for the people of Kabul to picnic and spend the day.* The park was rebuilt to original specifications of Babur during 2002-2004 who wanted to make a "theater of heaven." His marble tomb resides at the top of the terraces too.
*Awesome Afghan snackbars in there too.

All hands...raising the booth at the Gardens of Babur

MVI 9270 from Ryan Alexiev on Vimeo.

Wrap it up

Test run for the Truth Booth

Doing a test run of the Truth Booth within the 1TV compound. Teaching the 1TV crew how to man and operate the booth. No small task due to the language and cultural barriers. Going good though!

Reflecting

The Truth Afghanistan #Kabul

Our first dry run on Thursday August 15th in a Kabul city center compound.  Thanks 1TV!

Driving

Testing the interface

In one piece

After several failed attempts at locating a proper screwdriver, we got a local carpenter to call in with a screwgun and... viola! Everything arrived a-ok.  Relief after a few weeks of the crate in Afghan customs.

The team

Typical delivery

Compound view

Hello Kabul

There's little doubt we're flying into a warzone.

Changes

For the Afghanistan trip, we completely rebuilt the interface, adding an improved camera, audio recording system, ring lights, swappable hard drives, and a solid state mac mini. We also had the software interface professionally programmed with the ability to customize the screens (due to different languages/dialects) on the fly.

A shot from the Inflatable World factory where the booth was manufactured 2 years ago and more recently modified...  Most notably to have the word Truth covered by its equivalent in Dari: حقیقت.