Calm before the Coup in Cairo

Anti Morsi Protester on June 29, 2013 Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt 

It was only a year ago the world witnessed the rejoicing in the streets as Egypt celebrated its first democratically elected President. But Cairo, the Mother of the World, never bonded with the child she had birthed. The Mother has rejected her first born. Today, the world waits with suspicion and fear as tourists alter their vacation plans for safer destinations.

Even the Egyptian Museum is eerily silent. Gone are the long lines of chattering foreign voices, all the tourists have stayed away.  I am alone in the room with the mummies of the ancient Pharaohs: Ramses II, Tuthmosis III, and Hatshepsut. I feel their spirits rising with the memories of this once great nation.

Anti Morsi/Obama Posters Tahrir Square June 29, 2013

Outside, the blazing streets are virtually deserted.  The hot air rarefied with the anticipation of the hundreds of thousands of people expected to arrive the next day for the planned protests. Only a small noisy group has gathered keeping up the drumbeat by responding forcefully to a series of passionate speakers delivering angry shouts from the stage.

So, You have figured out exactly what I am thinking as I carefully move deeper into Tahrir Square this Saturday afternoon June 29, 2013

Anti Morsi BrochuresTahrir Square June 29, 2013

At first I see many families with children. But as I move closer to the stage my handsome guide suddenly becomes my bodyguard, standing tall in his tight white T-Shirt and blue jeans. Then as quickly he becomes my boyfriend as I cling onto his arm, shifting my body shamefully tight into his.

Men are starting to rage, the situation is becoming very tense. I am afraid!  

Anti Morsi Protesters Gather Tahrir Square June 29, 2013

Around my neck hangs a big Nikon camera, in my hand a Sony video camera. I'm shooting with both at the same time.  I do not want anyone to get the wrong idea and think that I am a journalist.

Visions of the countless, nameless women who have been violently molested and raped flash before my eyes. I realize the situation could easily escalate out of control - so I leave!

 I leave Egypt at 9am Sunday morning just hours before the massive crowds gather in Tahrir Sq and Nassar City.

In May, when I first booked the flight to Cairo, I had completely forgotten about the violent revolution that had recently taken place in Egypt. Like any difficult birth, I thought that the pain had been forgotten, replaced with an ecstatic love.

It was only after I told everyone I was going that they all said the same thing to me; 

'Aren't you afraid? Why are you going to Cairo?'

I said 'Its a short flight to Uganda, that's why' And besides, I yelled back at them, 'I am fascinated with Egypt, Cairo especially!'

I had no idea then, that my intuition must have chosen the morning of June 30th to leave Egypt.

Did you know that the source of the Nile is in Jinja, Uganda?

I did not know that fact, so I went to Jinja to see for myself. Thus metaphorically tying together why my stop over needed to be Cairo in order to get to Uganda.

International Women's Art Salon's Radio Interview

I was interviewed Monday night for the International Women's Art Salon's Radio on my Peace Caravan project. 

The show broadcasts from Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy. The sound guy sits in a small closet with the stocks of olive oil and cans of anchovies. Jenny Green ( the woman in white ) - is the host. She is a professional at keeping the show going. She has previously worked at the BBC presenting the country's news. Heidi is the producer and founder of IWAS. She expends tireless efforts working as a curator, organizer and champion of women in the artistic world.

The show is going to be archived on www.cityworldradio.com on Thursday, April 11, 2013 if you want to take a listen.
To Listen to the entire broadcast: 

Fatti un Film Finalist

PEACE CARAVAN

Journey along the Silk Road: Xinjiang Province, China 
by Marla Mossman. Usa, 2012, documentary, 17'5'' - Italian premiere

The captivating glance of an American photographer will lead us to the discovery of the contemporary Silk Road.

Palazzo delle Esposizioni is pleased to present the selected short films concurring to the second edition of Shoot it out - exhibit your short film, contest linked to the exhibition On the Silk Road. Ancient Pathways Between East and West. An occasion to explore and interpret using the imagination of cinematographic narration, the wide range of subjects of a great exhibition. The works, mainly Italian premieres, arrived from all around the world and are now presented to the public in a two-day screening event.  On Saturday 2nd will also take place the award ceremony sustained by La Placa and Canon, during which the best short films will be awarded at the presence of the cinematographic critic             Francesco Castelnuovo from Sky Cinema and the public jury.

http://english.palazzoesposizioni.it/events/Evento.aspx?ide=664

Interview with Roza Otunbayeva the Former President of the Krygyz Republic

Peace Caravan Journey along the Silk Road: New York documents the people from the Silk Road nations who have settled within the five Boroughs of New York. Exploring through video and photography their customs and traditions. This interview with Roza Otunbayeva, the Former President of the Krygyz Republic, was held at the Bulgarian Consulate in New York, December 2012, just a few minutes before the concert of classic Kyrgyz music. The former President expresses her thoughts on the special quality of the Krygyz people.

Cho'chura: Uyghur Style Dumplings with Soup

The Women in the Tash Family make the Chuchura Dumplings  Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China

Prepare a flavorful lamb broth, and stir in diced, seeded tomatoes. In a separate pot, simmer chuchura, Uyghur "soup dumplings," for two or three minutes until the wrappers become slightly translucent. Drain, and transfer the dumplings to the soup.

Cook the dumplings in the soup for another 10 minutes, to absorb flavor from the broth. Garnish with freshly-chopped cilantro, and serve hot. Chuchura are similar to tortellini or wontons, but are filled with lamb or mutton, minced onions and a dash of cumin.

Steam manti, another type of Uyghur dumpling, in an oiled bamboo steamer for 25 minutes. Manti are wrapped in thin wheat dough similar to wonton wrappers, and can have a variety of fillings. Mutton and lamb are the most common, but pumpkin and other fillings can be used. Serve hot, with a chili-based dipping sauce or vinegar.

Use the oiled bamboo steamer for Hoshang dumplings, as well. These are similar to Chinese pork buns, with a thicker and chewier pastry, but are filled with mutton and onions. After steaming, they are pan-fried to a crisp and golden surface on each side.

Simmer Uyghur "potstickers" in an open pan with just enough water to cover them, for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain any remaining water, and pan-fry until the dumplings are golden brown on bottom, about two to three minutes. Serve with hot dipping sauce or vinegar. Uyghur potstickers are similar to Chinese jaozi or Japanese gyoza, but with lamb or mutton filling.  recipe courtesy of YouAsk.com

Tamlik  thats Delicious in Uyghur 

Meatless Days

Egg Vendor Old Souk, Aleppo, Syria

Whenever I am traveling for long periods of time, I always eat eggs, especially as I try to avoid meat.  For several days, I will go with a vegetarian diet but, I can't give up my eggs. Usually, I prefer to eat omelets, and the best I've tasted were made a few miles from Sogmartan, in the Upper Mesopotamian plains, just north of the border of Syria, in Southern Turkey. After walking for the entire day, I came upon a remote farm house where my guide asked for some food and what came  were delicious eggs fried in sheep's fat, served in the cast iron pan they were cooked - simply divine!

Red Eggs Kabul, Afghanistan

Egg Maze Old City SanliUrfa, Turkey

All the Tea in China..........!

The Drink Dujour through-out the entire Silk Road is TEA. From the fertile tea plantation on the Black Sea in Trabzon, to the Tea Houses in Xi'an, China tea is the ubiquitous libation morning, noon, and night.  Up to twenty glasses a day!

Here are a few of my favorite tea drinking spots

 Bedouin Tea in front of the Monastery Petra, Jordan

Green Tea overlooking the Oasis Turpan, Xinjian Province, China

 Final Pour Green Tea  100 year old Tea House, Xi"an, China

Tea Plantation overlooking the Black Sea Trabzon, Turkey

Bedouin Spiced Tea in Tent  Desert near Palmyra, Syria

 Black Tea with Teachers and village Elders  Dewan, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan

Black Tea in ancient Cave Harran, Southern Turkey 

Remembering Aleppo

 Armenian Quarter in the Old City Aleppo

My laptop was on New York time and so I arrived a day early at Beit Wakil, once an upscale family home and now a small Boutique Hotel in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City. The frazzled young girl at the reception could barely cope with my presence and began ringing a bell at an alarming clang. From somewhere deep inside the walls I heard  baritone sounds that seemed to be getting closer… "No Problem I will fix" the burly man was saying as he scurried down the steps in a long Arabian Thobe, the casual robe that Middle Eastern men where in the intense heat. "Hello, I'm Habib, the manager and we will take care of your room.  Find her a room", he says to the receptionist as he takes my arm and leads me down a stone hall to the inner courtyard. "Have you eaten, don't eat because I am taking you for dinner. Aleppo has the best food in the Middle East. i promise you what ever you don't like we won't charge you!"

That night we sang all the songs from Fiddler on the Roof as Habib filled glass after glass of Arak the sweet, anise drink of Syria. The more he drank the more he began to look like Zero Mostel's Tevye


                                                              Courtyard of the Beit Wail

                   

Destruction of Biblical Proportions

Women Entering the Umayyad Mosque Old City, Damascus, Syria
Christ Statue  Christian Quarter, Damascus






How we do some things

connects us all.

A response of historic numbers

to a focused mission. 

Hands getting it done

in a grand job for Peace

A car bomb in Bab Touma

sets off a storm of Destruction in the Old City of Damascus.

Where Muslims, Christians and Jews

lived in quarters side by side behind walls three men high.

The warning rises on the Four Winds.

Driving a storm of epic proportions.

As the deluge of violence in Syria

spreads throughout the Middle East.

War planes thunder over Damascus

ensuring its destruction,

sadly the prediction delivers true.

A passionate echo from the ancient Prophet Isaiah his words

knitted on the back of a sweater in Aleppo:



"THERE WILL COME A TIME"
                                         Marla Mossman  New York,  2012

  There will Come A Time  Old Souk,  Aleppo, Syria 

Ram in home of two Sisters  Jewish Quarter  Old City, Damascus, Syria

Mez Aynak, Afghanistan Conference in Washington 2012

        I took this photo of Dr. Cheryl Benard with the Mez Aynak experts 

Mes Aynak is located in Afghanistan Logar Province in remote desert region about 45km from Kabul. It is one of the oldest and richest copper mines in the world. Above it, lies the ruins of an immense ancient Buddhist complex. Today, a Chinese mining consortium threatens its destruction. I was invited to attend the conference in Washington where reports from the archeologists, mining specialists, art historians were presented on how best to preserve the artifacts. For more information read, Dr. Cheryl Benard's Daily Beast article encourages all of us to act now for the responsible preservation of one of Afghanistan's historical treasures.  To learn more: thedailybeast.com/  

Peace Caravan:Afghanistan Lecture at the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada

I had the great pleasure and honor to speak about the Peace Caravan Project and talk on my journey through Afghanistan. Lecturing serves the real mission of the project - to educate and provide first hand information about the people living in Silk Road countries.  The images and stories help to dispel myths and misconceptions resulting from a media focused on war and violence. Seeing women harvesting the fields, caring for children, families working together shows that we are all similar.

 I could not be more appreciative for the warm hospitality offered to me by the gracious Francesco Alvaraz, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Culture.  The Royal Ontario Museum is more beautiful and richer in culture and arts today than when I lived in Toronto over 30 years ago and filled every one of my visits with the awe for mankind in all our creativity. 

NO WOMAN NO COUNTRY

 Afghan Women want Peace but not at the cost of loosing all they have gained in the last 10 years.  Yes, they believe in Peace but their rights are non-negotiable. During this Transition Process, Afghan Women want to emphasise security issues for the military and police, but, primarily for civil society. 

                                        Burkah Sellers                                                      Kabul, Afghanisgtan       2005                              As Executive Director of a non-profit my trip to Afghanistan in 2005 was to coordinate the Ministry of Education's mandate to locate and select schools in the Waras region,  an area with the greatest need. I had no idea what to expect only that Waras was a day's drive south west from Kabul in the opposite direction from the historical Bamiyan city district, where there is a proliferation of NGO's giving aid. Little did I know that this would turn into six days and the majority of that time spent on horseback traversing a dozen shale covered passes of the Surb Koh the mountains that surrounds these villages.

The Second International Conference on Afghanistan held in Bonn, Germany last week, marked 10 years from the first conference, in 2001, when Hamid Karzai was chosen the leader of an Afghan Interim Authority. In the 10 years that have transpired, Afghanistan women have worked diligently to enact changes for the better - including a law giving them protection against violence. “But then, as today, the law is rarely enforced with 80% of women and children experiencing some type of violence on a daily basis, occurring in both the cities and the rural areas.”

The Afghan women delegates spoke openly about their lack of protection, at the press conference hosted by CARE International the day following the Bonn Conference. The women delegates were not invited to participate directly and this CARE press conference gave them the international platform to emphasis the need to be on equal terms with the men of Afghanistan.  “Since women make up 51% of the Afghan population, they stressed their right to be actively involved in the discussions, decisions and negotiations during the Transition Process.”

                                Mother and child                                                                                                             Worzang,     Afghanistan 2005                             The women of the villages have special needs, and spoke to me privately in hushed tones. There are few doctors in the area, and no one was specializing in women’s health issues. There is no midwife system in Afghanistan and since most women are shy and modest by nature they often give birth alone. This is one reason that Afghanistan has the worlds highest maternal mortality rates, at 1600 for every 100,000 births. The infant mortality rate has similar statistics, at 166 per 1,000 live births.  One in four children die before they reach the age of five.

There are striking similarities between the Afghan women, as they look to secure their future, and their American sisters, who surprisingly are facing a backlash to their own rights. The recent Initiative 26; “a Mississippi state constitutional personhood amendment that would have given full rights to fertilized eggs, would have banned emergency contraception, birth control pills, and IUDs as well as all abortions, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman or girl. The Personhood Amendment would have even gone so far as to eliminate medical choices for women, including some cancer treatments, in vitro fertilization, and could allow the state to investigate and even prosecute a woman for a miscarriage.”

The Personhood Amendment aims to reverse the gains made by Roe vs Wade. “While women’s rights supporters successfully defeated the dangerous Initiative 26. Anti-abortion and anti-birth control extremists have indicated that they intend to put a similar measure on six state ballots in 2012”.  As of December 14 , 2011, “Personhood USA Petitions claims that GOP Candidates Lead on Personhood; Bachmann, Santorum, Gingrich Sign First-of-its-kind Personhood Pledge”

This past October, women in Topeka, Kansas, where shocked when the district attorney’s office announced that they would stop investigating domestic abuse cases. Prosecutor’s say they're overwhelmed with so many felonies, and the need to incur budget cuts, that they can't afford to pursue these and other misdemeanor cases. This move by the district attorney’s office has outraged civil rights advocates and who say, “Austerity has gone to far”

Carrying greens for evening meal              Jark, Afghanistan, 2005

The peaceful landscape is an oasis of calm with the emerald fields of grain, apricots and raisins contrasting with the soft brown mountain backdrop. Village life is simple but for the women the work is hard; women worked the sparsely fertile land, threshed the wheat, tended to the cattle, carried crops back to the home and cooked the meals.

These examples crystallize the regressive policies that threaten the essential core rights of the individual - particularly women and children. I have observed, as I travel across the many Silk Road countries for my Peace Caravan project, that this need for an “inclusive voice” remains an ongoing global struggle for women. In this 21 Century, I believe that the time is eminent.  Raise the rights of women and with an equal determination in the future of their lives; their families, village and nations prosper.  For without women, there is no country.

With respect, and to honor the courage of the women delegates at Bonn, The Afghan Women’s Network-AWN, and all those who have focused their energies over the past two years to give Afghan women a voice. I present:                                                                                                                                                                             

FACES of the WOMEN of AFGHANISTAN – photographs from my journey through Afghanistan in 2005.

Women Begging outside of Mosque      Herat, Afghanistan 2005 

Young Girl in White                                        Warzang, Afghanistan 2005

                                                           Washing up                                                                       Jark, Afghanistan, 2005                                                                            Washing up, cleaning clothes and showers all take place in a stone room off the main house. The water flows from a hollow bamboo stick protruding from the rock wall falling directly into a trough cut through the stone floor. Clothes are rubbed clean against the floor, scrubbed till the soap runs clear then left to float in the water filled trough to rinse. It is an amazing piece of engineering and even though the water was ice cold, exacerbated by the stone floor, it was a luxury and a refreshing pleasure.

 

TRI Tashkent Conference -Tashkent, Uzbekestan

Marla Mossman seen on the monitor during her presentation at the Tashkent Conference

I was delighted to be invited to give a virtual presentation at the The Region Initiative (TRI) REGIONAL TOURISM PARTNERSHIP AMONG SOUTH ASIA, CENTRAL ASIA AND EASTERN EUROPE CONFERENCE in Tashkent, Uzbekistan - November 22, 2011.

The conference was organized by TRI Honorary President, Mr. Agha Iqrar Haroon, and attended by partners from Central and South Asia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Pakistan - all tourism experts and professionals in tourism NGOs and practitioners.

The audience had the opportunity to view the Peace Caravan: Journey Along the Silk Road video before I participated in an interactive discussion, answering questions via Skype. I stressed the view that Central Asia, which has wonderful cultural and environmental opportunities in eco-tourism, handicrafts, and traditional arts needs to impart a new global awareness campaign. I and my Peace Caravan Project’s mission is to be a positive role in telling the world how peaceful the people and beautiful the landscapes are in Central Asia and all along the Silk Road.

I was especially moved by the Conferences recognition that "tourism is an effective tool for peace and should be considered a harmony generator.  It was decided that all countries will work together for the revival of the historic and traditional route of the Great Silk Road."

For more information on TRI and the Tashkent Conference 
http://www.theregionaltourism.org/Tashkent-conference.htm

Social Good Summit Summary

First Tweet by the First Ladies of Africa at the Social Goods Summit

Last week I attended The Social Good Summit, held in New York to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly. It was jointly hosted by Mashable, the UN Foundation, and 92nd Street Y, and was sponsored by Ericsson. Many media notables, world leaders, Nobel Prize Laureates, activists, U.S. government officials, movie stars, business leaders, bloggers, and journalists joined in on conversations on the most important and crucial, global issues.

Noticeably, the conversations lead to Africa and ultimately the focus was on the needs of Women and Girls. From Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson of the Elders each spoke of the need to appeal to religious and political leaders - for better education, to raise the status of Women, to save lives during pregnancy and childbirth - just a few of the issues facing women.

While it was promising to hear that Women were finally at the forefront of global discussions,  I was  disappointed to  not hear any mention of Uyghur Women and Children living in far western Xinjiang Province, China. Their traditions and customs are on the brink of extinction., since, Kashgar, ,the historic Silk Road city on the main trade route linking China and Europe, has been designated as “a special economic zone”

Second Annual Social Good Summit

I’m happy to pass along that I will be a guest blogger at the Mashable/92Y and the UN Foundation’s Second Annual Social Good Summit beginning on September 19.

A brief description by Mark Leon Goldberg the managing editor of UN Dispatch

“Between the United Nations General Assembly meeting and the Clinton Global Initiative, UN week in New York is always a fascinating, hectic and exhilarating week. Last year, a new event was thrown into the mix: The Social Good Summit.  About 1,000 people hung around the 92Y in Manhattan for three days of inspiring meetings, lectures, presentations and interviews about how social media and emerging communication technologies are being harnessed for the global good.”

Confirmed Speakers:

• Ronit Avni, Founder and Executive Director, Just Vision
• Matthew Bishop, American Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief, The Economist
• Pete Cashmore, CEO and Founder, Mashable
• Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer and SVP, GE
• Ami Dar, Founder and Executive, Idealist.org
• David Jones, Global CEO, Havas and Global CEO, Euro RSCG Worldwide and Co-founder, One Young World
• Nancy Lublin, CEO, Do Something
• Simon Mainwaring, Founder/Author, WE FIRST
• Alec Ross, Senior Adviser for Innovation, in the Office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• Raj Shah, USAID Administrator, United States Agency for International Development
• Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Enterprises, Inc. and the United Nations Foundation
• Elie Wiesel, President, Elie Weisel Foundation for Humanity
• Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank

Check in with the Peace Caravan blog for current updates!