Inside look at ancient art of glass-blowing in Afghanistan where only a few are keeping it alive
HERAT, Afghanistan -- For 200 years, Ghulam Sakhi's family has been blowing glass in the ancient Afghan city of Herat.
He creates azure, indigo and green goblets, cups and vases that have been sold in fancy stores overseas, but like so many Afghans the artisan struggles to make a living and as he tries to keep this dying art form alive.
Ghulam estimates there are now only three glassblowers left in the country who use traditional clay ovens stoked with wood and rely solely on the power of their lungs to shape the stunning glassware.
Watching him at work is mesmerizing as he blows, twists and fashions the molten liquid into shape. The heat is intense with the oven’s core temperature rising to a blistering 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ghulam has lived through his country's occupation by the Soviet Red Army, a civil war, Taliban rule and over the last 17 years a war that is now the longest ever for the United States.
Yet Ghulam is still firmly optimistic about the future and the prospect of seeing his beloved Afghanistan at peace once again.
