Haiti

Valerie and I have been in Haiti this week with one of her colleagues in RESPE, Ashley Allison.  They are working with the Haitian coalition and RESPE: BALAN to set up a local health clinic and do health trainings. We arrived on Sunday after a crazy flight on LYNX airlines from the hangar at Ft Lauderdale airport to Cap Haitian via the Grand Bahamas (an unscheduled fuel stop).  

The Tufts University students' work in Balan is an ongoing project (http://www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/news/2009-04-30-respe-history-and-timeline) that was jump started by the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts.  PeaceTones joined their work by asking to make Haiti a PeaceTones pilot and  by making a connection to the Christian Haitian Entrepreneurial Society (CHES) based in Boston which, in turn, made a local connection to nurses near Balan who have joined Ashley and Val on their trainings; for their part, the Tufts students introduced PeaceTones to community leaders from Balan several months ago,  who, in turn, arranged for us to meet and record musicians and meet with lawyers on our current trip.

As soon as we arrived, we met with a local attorney, Watson, who took a copy of the proposed IBO/artists contract and promised to read it and get back to me with comments by this evening.  We met with 9 musician groups shortly after that, and, they had many questions about PeaceTones.  Fortunately, Val had arranged to translate key portions of our brochure into creole, and our RESPE:Balan hosts served as leaders/translators for this first music community meeting in Balan.  Within two days, we had our first recordings.  Tomorrow, we are set for a second round of recordings.  We also visited with our CHES friends at a nearby university which was hosting a music camp, where we met an incredible young bass player, Wester Desamours.  We plan to record Wester tomorrow as well.

PeaceTones would like to see the health clinic become a beneficiary of our collaboration; but, of course, that is up to the community.  Val, Ashley and their team will train more than 100 people during the week they are here, covering sexual health and hypertension.  They have brought down an incredible horde of materials/dvds to share as well - and, lots of supplies.

An auspicious beginning...

Back in the USA

Jeff and I have returned to a beautiful, sunny Boston and are finally settling into our usual routines: frantically calling our contacts, cc'ing emails like crazy, and lugging around equipment. Aaah to be home. At least, our sleep schedules are normalizing- I can proudly say that I have stopped waking up at 4PM hungry for dinner.

As for our next feat, a trip to Balan, Haiti, we are focusing on the health aspect. The Tufts student group, RESPE: Ayiti (Research and Engagement Supporting Poverty Elimination) has established a partnership with the community and has shifted its focus to health over the past couple of years. This trip we will be focusing on preventative health trainings regarding hypertension, sexual health and hygiene. Jeff is steering PeaceTones towards Online Medical Records with Partners in Health, which would be a great connection to RESPE's work.

Jeff and I are trying to schedule a meeting with PIH this week, as well as, lock down possible legal and musical contacts in Balan. There is a music camp run out of a university in Cap Haitian that we are also planning to visit. We will let you know how things go when we are further along.

Women in Afghanistan

During the previous 36 hours of flying and waiting in various terminals leading up to our stay in Kabul, Jeff and I talked about promoting women's rights as the cornerstone of this PeaceTones project. Before landing in Afghanistan's bustling capital, Kabul, we outlined a make shift strategy: upon arrival dial as many numbers as possible, which has proved to be successful over the course of our stay

Within the first few minutes of our stay, we were introduced to Cynthia Ryan, Principal of the The Schooner Foundation (http://www.schoonercapital.com/) and on the Board of Directors for international non-governmental organization, Women for Women (www.womenforwomen.org). Lucky for us, she happened to be sleeping in a room down from us at TMF and over breakfast, casually invited us to her meetings at the Women for Women (WfW) chapter in Afghanistan.

During our visits, we spoke with the WfW staff and local participants about the challenges Afghan women face daily. Comfortable among other women, female participants spoke freely about family issues, lack of access to education, Afghanistan's poor economy, and limited job opportunities. We asked survey questions about internet and cellphone use and eventually hit the mark when asking if an all female internet cafe would be a comfortable environment for women to learn how to use use computers and use the internet.

Through meetings with the Ministry of Women's Affairs and USAID, Jeff and I followed up on the gender aspect of this project. With the help of locals, we are putting together a gathering for this Sunday between female lawyers, business women, law students, and parliament members in order to directly address the legal issues and business aspect of the PeaceTones calligraphy and music. Furthermore, Jeff will run an e-commerce training session with the group. Hopefully, the various individuals can connect to form a support network for PeaceTones in Afghanistan, as well as, come up with some answers on how promote the role of professional women within this society.

Upon Landing in Kabul...

After criss-crossing over one of several jagged mountain ranges surrounding Kabul, we touched down in the dusty, bustling sprawl of the capital city. Surprised to have finally landed in this far corner of the world, we gathered our things and made our way to Turquoise Mountain Foundation (TMF). TMF is a non-profit that promotes traditional Afghan artisans and historic urban preservation (www.turquoisemountain.org) and is also where we would be spending the next week and a half and hopefully collaborating with on a PeaceTones project.

Jeff and I had planned our trip so that we would arrive the day of TMF's open house, during which hundreds of local Afghans and international personnel would be perusing the grounds, looking at TMF's student work, and relaxing in the courtyard to traditional Afghan music and refreshments. Fighting sleep, we helped as much as possible without getting in the way; hanging calligraphy pieces, setting up jewelry displays, wrapping bricks in black cloth, and other various tasks. The event turned out to be a great success, or at least that what I am told, since I passed out for about three hours in the middle.

All this set the stage for a potential partnership between PeaceTones/InternetBar's work with TMF. Through several discussions with TMF staff, including Rory Stewart, the organization's founder and now the head of the Carr Center for Human Rights at the Kennedy School for Government at Harvard in Cambridge, we outlined a project promoting the online distribution and expertise of Afghan calligraphers. The business model, human resources, and capital need a look at, but the idea is welcomed by both the organization and its master calligraphers.

The Internet Silk Road

We landed four days ago, microphones, cameras and contracts in hand, excited to begin PeaceTones Afghanistan. The idea had been brewing in Jeff's head ever since PeaceTones received one of the fifty World Justice Forum's grants --- December 31, 2008, as seed money for PeaceTones premiere year. Jeff and I met sometime last winter (2009) to discuss a PeaceTones project in Haiti, where I have been working for the past couple of years through my university. Appropriately enough, we were drinking chai at some small coffee place. Six months later, I found myself sitting on a plane heading towards Afghanistan.

In the West, the country has practically become a synonym for terrorist, followed quickly by fundamentalist Islam, jihad, opium, and madrassa, to name a few more negative stereotypes and words that have completely lost their historical meaning when spat out of Western media. After sifting through several books on the country, I was expecting something much more than this narrow, slanted perspective. The rich history and culture of the place painted a more complicated picture. Through PeaceTones, Jeff and I hoped to expound upon these centuries of artisan craft, music, tradition and development. The historical center of cultural blending and commerce in South Asia, Afghanistan should be the nexus of the digital Silk Road.