Axis of Good
By Leila Javitch

On Monday evenings, the Norfolk Library has presented an interesting series of documentaries made either by local filmmakers or chosen and presented by members of the Norfolk community, who claim expertise in a particular field. The latter, for example, was My Architect, an examination by his son of the life and work of Louis Kahn, introduced by Norfolk architect, Pete Anderson.
The former category featured Axis of Good, a work in progress, filmed and directed by Rick Derby, a native of Berkshire County who, along with Don and Sally Goodrich, the subjects of the film, was able to attend the Norfolk screening.
Axis of Good portrays the efforts of the Goodriches, both residents of North Adams in MA., to honor  and preserve the memory of Peter Goodrich, who died on September 11, 2001. Goodrich was a passenger on United Flight 175, which was hijacked and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  The film is a moving tribute to the family’s strength in overcoming the tragedy of a beloved son’s death.
Their journey towards healing began in August 2004 when they received an email from a close childhood friend of Peter’s, Major Rush Filson, a United States Marine, who had just been stationed in Afghanistan.  Assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom, Filson  had visited a secular school for girls in Lagor, about an hour and a half outside of Kabul. The school was falling down, with mud floors, crumbling walls and no roof.  There were eight teachers, 300 students in desperate need of supplies, and a director who had received death threats.
Responding to Major Filson’s request for help, the Goodriches mobilized their friends in Vermont and the Berkshires and sent money to the school.  Both of the Goodriches visited Lagor, but it was Sally, an educator herself, who made the school her mission and salvation.  Beyond the necessary school supplies, she raised enough money to construct a new building, which opened in April 2006 and now serves 500 girls.
At the Norfolk screening, the Goodriches shared their journey and  talked movingly about their grief and their eventual resolution of it though their commitment to the Afghan school.
As an extension of that commitment, the Goodriches have opened their home to 16 Afghan high school students, for whom they have found placements and full scholarships at New England boarding schools. Several of these young people are studying at the Berkshire School and were also able to attend the screening.
Readers who are interested in more information should go to axisofgoodmovie.com