Five Solutions

Yesterday, Brian and I went downtown to celebrate the St. Patrick's Day parade. A crowd of well over 100,000 people were decorated like holiday ornaments with blinking buttons, silly hats, shamrock-shaped face paint, striped stockings, and tee-shirts that read "Kiss Me I'm Irish". Standing shoulder to shoulder, the world turned green between the pavement and the sky.

When we came back home, I found a letter from Rasheed. It was addressed to a large group of Americans that I assume he met during his visit to the United States last year. It read:

Respected Friends,
It is time to work for peace and sustainable development in Afghanistan and Pakistan. You all have the capacity to do some positive things in this regard. TRDO (Tribal Reforms and Development Organization) is working on peace and development in the areas situated on the pak afghan border.  Kindly come up with good suggestions that what we should do to achieve the desired objectives of peace and development and how we can put pressure on our policy makers to stop war and genocide.
Rasheed Mohmand Advocate, Executive Director TRDO

The attached document was titled "How to Overcome the Problem". The text read:

"This is the picture of Robert Bell who killed 16 innocent children and women in Afghanistan.

Robert Bell a US soldier who killed entered into a nearby house and brutally killed sixteen innocent people mostly women and children in Qandahar Afghanistan has done a great damage to the ongoing peace process. This is very unfortunate that being a strong ally of the Afghanistan the US army is repeatedly perpetuating such kind of heinous crimes and adds to the problems of not only of the week Hamid Karzai government but also creates problems for the US government and particularly to the US citizens throughout the world. Before this incident, the US army burnt the Holy Quran in Bagram airbases which led to the country wide demonstrations and protests which had taken the lives of  innocent people. These things are happening very frequently and we have witnessed that even the wedding and funeral processions have been targeted.

The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan are of the opinion that these incidents are intentional rather than accidental. They are of the opinion that it was necessary to prosecute the accused in Afghanistan but he was taken to the America to save him. The people are negatively reacting to this incident. The millitants can get full advantage of this situation and there are more attacks of the insurgents against the allied forces as well as on the afghan security forces. The anti militant people will also support the militants only on this ground. They the militants are emancipating the Afghanistan from the foreign troops who have become more fatal and hostile to the local people.


Solution of the Problem:

• In order to bring peace in Afghanistan it is necessary to reduce the number of combating forces and they should have to build the capacity of the local afghan forces.
• The Afghans should be involved in all the process of peace and development.
• Those foreign troops who are sent to Afghanistan should be properly guided about the cultural, traditional and religious norms.
• Before sending and during their stay in Afghanistan there should be a proper and regular check up that whether they have any mental problems or not.
• Those who are accused of any kind of crime or genocide they should be prosecuted inside the Afghanistan as the Americans prosecuted the Emal Kanis, Ramzi Yousaf, Afia Sadidi and many others in order to satisfy the people that not only justice has been done but seemed to be done." 

I cannot emphasize enough the warmth with which Brian and I were greeted during our visit to Pakistan.  Our challenge throughout the week was not to develop friendships but rather to find enough seconds in the day (and morning and night) to talk with everyone who wanted to befriend us. Since leaving Pakistan, our inboxes are filled with notes from men and women, students and faculty, who write things such as, "I am so happy to meet you. We love being with your presence at the conference. You are always in our hearts."

I am not sure when or how I was taught to immediately correlate "Pakistan" and "terrorism". I only know that, before our trip, when someone said "Pakistan", it was the first word to come to mind. In the reverse direction, I met several people who, having not met Americans and/or been to American before, were surprised that we were nice. Over and over we found ourselves explaining that the vast majority of Americans are very good people who just want to live in peace. Over and over, people wanted to tell us the vast majority of Pakistani people are good people who just want to live in peace.

That is why now, when I hear of tragic events such as the recent burning of the Qurans and the US soldier's shooting rampage of innocent people, it is even more heartbreaking and infuriating. The Afghani and Pakistani victims are no longer abstract numbers, but rather our mothers and children and next door neighbors who would prefer (and deserve) to be at a parade.

Letters to the Future Generation from Pakistan

We now have collected nearly 200 letters. I have randomly pulled some examples and have transcribed them from handwriting exactly as they are written. I apologize in advance if I have misspelled names. If you find mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them a.s.a.p. In the meantime, here are some of the letters that were written during a 20 minute session at the Social Intervention Conference:

Dear Future Generation,
Assalam-o-Alaikum. I am Khizna Batool, 18 years old. Lives in Karachi and student of Department Social Work in University of Karachi. I always wanted to see Pakistan a peaceful, educated, and developed country. I want to see every single child of Pakistan educated and successful. I want to reduce poverty and unemployment. Students of Pakistan are very talented and hardworking. The only problem is we don't have any platform, we don't get reward of our hard work. Therefore, I request to my elders who have power to give us that platform. So that InshaAllah we'll do much better for Pakistan. Thank you. Khizna, Karachi, Pakistan

Hey, Dear Friends:
I would like to say to you that I want you to see the world as a positive place. I know we daily face problems and we do go through things which are beyond our thought. But it is the human power that we can come out from any problem we face. I would wish that please love your family, friends, etc, your trees, your poet, your house, your school, and among all love each person you see on the street or surround you because they are also a part of you. Try keep smiling in this life and remember one thing that there is nothing in this world that you cannot achieve because after every failure is a success. The famous ruler or the famous warrior all went through failures in life but still they left a remark. I would like to see the future world with no selfishness. I wish each person care for each other. Because caring each person can bring the world close and we can easily challenge the difficulties of the world. If we unite ourselves. There are many things I would like to say but I only want to wish that please love each other without any discrimination. Keep smiling.  :-)  Farhana Abbasi

Dear Generation,
I am a girl from Pakistan and my name is Bushra Subhani. I really hope that we Pakistanis will going to have a really bright future InshaAllah. We will work hard, fast & will make our country stand with pride in front of the world. We will prove that we are not just a third world country. And we will prove it! And the world will see!
Sincerely,
Bushra Subhani, Student of Psychology

To My Dear Future Generation,
Assala-O-Alikum
My name is Asma Zafar and I am 22 years old. I am live in Pakistan, and would tell you we Muslims are not terrorists, we have a peaceful nation. After some time when you read my this letter, so you know I am love you alot and pray for you success and victories of life, may you achieve everything in life. With best wishes. Love you, Asma Zafar, 6 of March, 2012.

Dear Future Generation,
I love you! and I want you to be loved by everyone. Relationships are very important. Respect your parents, your siblings, your friends & everyone around you. Always aim high & keep trying. Never get yourself disappointed. With the challenges around you. Do not be materialistic. You should try to get the best in your life but by FAIR MEANS. You have to face much more challenges that we faced like corruption, law & order situations, terrorism. Try to identify your friends & enemy. Illiteracy is the biggest enemy. Get yourself educated for being BETTER HUMAN BEINGS, rather than just Money Making Machines to live a happy life. See the people who have less facilities than you. Aim high, there is no virtue in easy victory. Love you, Syed Muhammad Ali.  6/3/2012

Dear future generation,
As the world is moving toward technological trends and people are forgetting their relations. Therefore, I want you all to remain attached to your relations, religion, spirituality as well as moral values. No one can live a happy life without them. Technology should only be given importance when it's useful for humanity & it doesn't detach us from beauty of love, relations, purity, sincerity, peace, ethics, moral values. You should recognize the harmful impacts of misuse of technology as we have not yet recognized and we are facing it in form of wars, bomb blasts, killings. We are loosing our loved ones due to it. Plz Plz don't get mad & love human beings & respect humanity apart from any status. Leave prejudices. Spread peace, education, love.
From, Sidra Asghar, Karachi, Pakistan

Letter to the Future Generation:
Say "No" to nationalism and "Yes" to humanism.
From,
Qurat-ul-ain Tahir
Karachi, Pakistan


Dear Future Generation,
The world is a beautiful place, despite the political uncertainty, turmoil and instability, despite the wars and the civil riots and crime, the world is still a beautiful place. It has wonderful people, beautiful places, kindness and hospitality and I hope that when this letter gets to you, it will still be as beautiful. It's not how things appear, but how we "see" things, the world is how we perceive it to be and I wholeheartedly wish that in your time, everyone will be able to see this world as a beautiful place. I'm sure that once we all choose to acknowledge the unrest, gradually it will cease to exist. I hope that we leave for you, a world free of discrimination, of war and of tragedy, and collaboratively we'll be able to give you a life free of uncertainty, instability and negativity. Finally, a humble request to you, is to be optimistic. Be positive and happy and by loyal to yourself. I'm sure you'll be able to overcome everything that you feel is going wrong by collaborative and united effort. Best of luck, NIRMAL BILAL, Karachi, Pakistan

Family Dinner

Few things in life can add up to the experiences we had on our last nights in Karachi. On Thursday, we met for dinner at the Marina Club followed by a second cruise into the Arabian Sea, this time with a motor. We met Shazia, Maqsood's wife, for the first time and their two beautiful daughters, Marvi and Mishel who told us all about their art competitions and upcoming spelling bee. 

On Friday, with our six overweight bags packed tightly into the truck, we went to Maqsood and Shazia's house for a final, outdoor, family-style dinner. The yard was covered in festive lights for Mishel's tenth birthday party, which created the perfect atmosphere for a competitive game of tag (no cultural translation necessary) with their son, Aarish.

Maqsood, Brian, and Afridi wearing his new NAZ tee-shirt!

Finally, well after 11pm, we said our final goodbyes and got back into our armored vehicle for the last time. At least, I should say, for the last time this year.

Conversations About and At Customs

Airport Security Official: Are you carrying anything with you that looks like and/or can be used as a weapon?

Brian: Yes. A dagger.

Airport Security Official: Please step aside, Sir, and open up your bag.

Thank you, Maqsood and Shazia, for all of the overgenerous gifts that will always remind us of our incredible trip to Pakistan. Thank you also, Sundas, for your personal copy of the Qur'an. We know how much this means to you.

A Pakol, a Palace, and a Private Performance

Thanks to Sarah Alam (from the U.S. Consulate of Karachi), we also had the opportunity to visit several sites around the city. In this first image at the downtown market, Brian is trying on a Pakol, one of the most "interesting" looking hats I have ever seen Brian wear. It is made out of a burlap-type fabric (though softer) with a beautifully hand-embroidered flat top.We learned later that it is a traditional hat of the Pashtuns, a large ethnic group living in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This was a significant coincidence in that Abrar Afridi, our security coordinator and friend, is very proud of being Pashtun and thus had taught us about the culture earlier in the week.

After Brian's talk at Jinnah University for Women, Sarah brought us to the Mohatta Palace, which has a significant history in Karachi dating back to 1927. After going through many transitions, it is now an art museum owned and administered by the Federal Government and the Government of Sindh (the province we were in).

We also visited the National Academy of Performing Arts, which teaches and houses performances in music, theater, and dance. We were fortunate to arrive at the moment some of the students were practicing new works for a fusion band that combines contemporary and traditional folk sounds from all regions of Pakistan.

U.S. State Department, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs' International Visitor Leadership Program

I'd like to again give credit to the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs' International Visitor Leadership Program for creating the opportunity for Anila, Maqsood, Brian, and me to meet during their sponsored visit to the United States. While our art/research often looks very critically at military-based decisions made by our government, I want to recognize that this cultural collaboration between the United States and Pakistan (C.U.S.P.) would not have happened without this U.S. government initiative.

We also want to credit Sarah, Tony, and Ali from the U.S. Consulate in Karachi for selecting the best candidates possible for the IVLP Program. The trustful relationships that we are building will continue to grow exponentially. Already, three students are planning to continue the "Letters to a Future Generation" project in their own social and academic spheres. Brian and I have been thrilled to read all of the emails and Facebook messages over the past several days from students and faculty who want to continue conversations around the topic of social intervention.

The Third Wish

My first two secret wishes were granted within 24 hours of landing (our bags didn't get lost and I smoked out of a hookah). The third wish, however, was not looking good due to security concerns. When we drove by the beach but didn't stop, I accepted the fact that it wasn't going to happen. On our last night, though, with great thanks to Anila and Afridi, it did.

Jinnah University for Women

On Friday, Brian engaged students and faculty in a discussion about Adolescent Development at Jinnah University for Women. As has been our experience throughout this entire visit to Pakistan, we were overwhelmed by their exceptionally warm welcome.

Jinnah University for Women is the first all-women's university in Pakistan. It awards undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in 22 departments across the Natural Sciences and Humanities. Over 3000 young women are currently enrolled. As envisioned by its founder, the University remains a "non-profit" organization so that family finances do not take precedence over education.

Fabric Heaven

When (from left to right) Anila, Tooba, Mahsina, and Quendeel said that they were going to take us shopping, I could never have imagined this. Rather than going to a mall of "pre-stiched" clothing, they have the option to come here instead, walk the endless rows of fabric stalls, select their fabric, and bring it to a seamstress with a sketch describing how they would like the garment to look. From this moment on, shopping in the United States will always be a disappointing experience.

"Collateral Repair"

At the Social Intervention Conference, S. Hassan Abbas gave a paper titled, "Collateral Repair: Using Social Intervention to cure the problem of Militancy in Pakistan". In his presentation he cited a study (Sohail Abbas, Probing the Jihadi Mindset) of 517 militants who went to Afghanistan to fight against the Americans after 9/11. The study showed that, "despite the obvious perception that these fighters are hardened Islamists, only 29% of them had attended a Madrassa and surprisingly a whopping 72.5% [of the 29%] had attended it for only 6 months or less. Another surprising figure was that only 52.5% of the militants had received any sort of religious education at home or abroad further debunking the Islamist myth." Hassan (pictured below on the upper left), made an interesting point that it was actually those who were from little religious background who were most vulnerable to persuasion.

His proposed solutions: (1) Rehabilitation Centers for Captured or Suspected Terrorists with Mandatory Psychological Evaluations, (2) Poverty Alleviation through Direct Aid and Development, (3) Vocational Education and Training, (4) Adult Education, (5) Awareness Programs against Pseudo-Religious Propaganda and abuse of Religious Texts and Symbols, (6) Regularization of the Madrassa System, and (7) Strangulation of Finances Intended for Militant Use.

This was the first time (of many to come) that I heard a rational and research-based approach to ending terrorism. I am sure that this is not new to many people but, for me, it was the first time I had heard about strategies to address the causes of violence rather than the symptoms. Hassan's presentation gave me a new angle from which to consider our "War on Terror" and a new reason for supporting the belief that violence never ends violence.

Artists, Fools, Scholars, and Humans

On Thursday, we had the privilege of visiting the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, where we were warmly greeted by faculty, staff, and peers. Due to the open plan of the building, the hallways filled with the sounds of art production--hammering, pounding slabs of clay, shifting tables, and open conversation. A senior 3-D major's sculpture dominated the central space: a nuclear bomb explosion constructed from hand-sharpened bamboo spears, referring to the past, present, and future of violent acts.While this may or may not have been her intent, I compared the two modes of warfare and tried to imagine how many spear-holding individuals it would take to create the amount of damage done by a single nuclear bomb. She is also the student who burned a small hole into the map of Karachi for each of the bomb blasts since 2001 (mentioned in the previous blog entry).  

My talk was called, "The Role of Art in Addressing Conflict" and it started with the idea that, in Elizabethan literature, the Fool was the only one who could tell the King the most difficult truths without getting his head chopped off. Artists--especially those who are interested in addressing themes of violence--can share this same status. While, on one hand, we struggle to be taken seriously, on the other hand, it is precisely because we're not taken seriously that we have the freedom to say what we want to say and have people listen without retaliation. Perhaps this is because we speak in metaphor. And perhaps because we aren't working for anyone else. Instead, we are often self-funded and we often have no personal agendas beyond what we are putting forth in the art. What makes us this vulnerable is also what makes us this armored when we speak out. Imagine how ridiculous it would look if a powerful person fought back against an artist! That's how we get out power.

  

All of this being said, I intentionally left Home Drone, one of our most recent and controversial projects-in-process, out of the presentation. When the Q&A period started after my talk, however, a student asked if we would consider doing any of our work on an international scale. In response, I explained the first steps we have made on Home Drone. The positive response reminded me that I was in an art school, where we are educated to question power, corruption, and status quo in an effort to create a better future.  The last paragraph of the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture's Mission Statement reads, "We shall not feel content till we have succeeded in preparing our graduates to live in the world of tomorrow, enabled them to share in the responsibilities for social, economic and political problems and to apply their professional knowledge and abilities to the solution of such problems, so that besides being technically and aesthetically literate, they are above all, good human beings."    

This faculty member (Ayesha? I will be sure to confirm her name as soon as I look back at my notes from the day--we met so many people!) is teaching a political art and performance class very similar to the one that I am teaching at the University of Rochester. We look forward to finding ways to either have our students work on collaborative projects and/or to working together on our own project(s). We had such an amazing conversation, regardless of the fact that we had to pack it into the confines of minutes! 

Before lunch, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the senior studios and speak with students about their thesis exhibitions. Here, Hamyda is showing me large packages of holographic stamps that she has made using images of people that have been deemed personal heroes by ordinary citizens. She is asking participants to write stories about the personal heroes in their lives and will be making small, barely legible history books referring to each individual history. Other students are making senior thesis exhibitions around themes of mapping, urban architecture, Muslim identity, and dyslexia. I will add more to this blog once I get some more photos of the studios from Ali, our guide from the U.S. Embassy. I'll also have the students' names once I unpack my bags.

These students are the first two people I have ever met from Afghanistan. I wish that I could have stayed longer to talk about their art and their experiences at IVS. I wish, in fact, that I could have had more than a week to learn more about the students' works! We unfortunately only had time for five studio visits before lunch. Inshallah, we will continue our discussions over Skype, Facebook, and email.

It was our good fortune that we arrived on the day that the 3rd year students were having their annual luncheon. The food was delicious! I especially liked the sweet dessert made with shaved carrots.

Again, we are sooooooooooooo appreciative for the efforts of many, many people who helped to organize these exchanges. Throughout the week, Brian has talked about micro-changes. This experience has been a perfect example: Two (2) people, Anila and Maqsood, came to the United States and, within a matter of minutes, had such a positive affect that Brian and I (4) boarded a plane only months later for Pakistan. We met with students and diplomats at Anila's house for lunch (11), and spoke at the Social Intervention conference (311). If 50% of the people we met told one other person that they had a good experience in our interactions, Anila and Maqsood have now affected 461 people. Then we met Tony, Sarah, and Ali (464), our U.S. Consulate representatives and mentors. They planned the trip to Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (564) and to Jinnah University for Women (664). If only half of the students we met at those schools said a single positive thing to someone else, Anila and Maqsood have now affected over 700 people. In addition, Brian spoke with the media on Friday, which opens up a whole new opportunity for dialogue and exchange. On our side, we have started this blog which has already had over 500 hits. We will be sure to spread all of our incredibly positive experiences upon our return to the United States. I imagine that the events of this one week trip, thanks to all of the students, staff, faculty, family and friends we met, could reach thousands of people. This is significant during a time when we are at a great lack for stories of positive relationships between our two countries.

Thank you so much to the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs' International Visitor Leadership Program for inviting Anila, Maqsood, Rasheed (who is collaborating with us on other projects) and the other members of their group to visit Rochester, NY, last year. This exchange is evidence that the program is working!