Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is COOL!

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a young Pakistani journalist determined to tell the stories that no one else will (photo source: The Guardian)

Among my cool new finds are documentaries made by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Sharmeen is just COOL, because she has guts and tells stories that we all need to hear. (In fact Sharmeen, if you are reading this, I would really like to be your friend!). Her main subjects generally revolve around women and children in different Asian and South Asian contexts, the underground abortion industry in the Philippines, gang violence in Indonesia, child suicide bombers in Pakistan, women's lives under the Taliban, Islamic issues, and more.

A few days ago, I watched her excellent report titled "Children of the Taliban" and was blown away. Here, VOA does a profile of the film:




Here is an interview with her:

Motherland Afghanistan

Dr Mojadidi treating a woman in Afghanistan, in the documentary Motherland Afghanistan (photo source: PBS)

I took some time to R&R (btw, R&R = rest and relaxation) last week and over the weekend. Spent a lot of time napping, reading, and doing a movie binge (God Bless Netflix!). I LOVE watching documentaries, and for some reason, a lot of what I've been watching has centered around Afghanistan and Pakistan. That's how I came across Motherland Afghanistan.

Motherland Afghanistan is a beautiful, poignant, almost heartbreaking documentary about a male Afghani-American Obstretician/Gyneacologist, Dr Qudrat Mojadidi, who returns to help fix the broken medical system in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world, and seeing the documentary, you'll have a very clear idea of why this is.

Dr. Mojadidi has practiced medicine within and outside of Afghanistan for the past 40 years. Originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, he relocated to the United States to finish his medical training in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to treating Afghan refugee women in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1982, he founded and managed the only free teaching hospital for Afghan women refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan for ten years during the Soviet-Afghan war. In 2002 he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his 20 years of work in Afghanistan. His commitment to women’s health in displaced communities has also led him to teach and work at Native American reservation hospitals in Arizona and Montana.

Here's a preview:

The far-reaching consequences of a policy

Policymakers need to be big-picture and long-term thinkers (photo credit: S. Christopher)

What few understand is that policy has far-reaching consequences that near-sighted politicians and lobbyists rarely look to understand properly. In the absence of solid leadership, these shortsighted politicans are able to sell their story to the public making the situation very dangerous. A perfect example is the US' ridiculous Iraq war or even their shortsighted attack on Afghanistan. In neither case did the policymakers really think about the lack of training they had, how long they could commit or anything else. Now the US finds itself in the middle of a major quandary that is also killing millions of innocent people on both sides. The shortsightedness of the policymakers is costing the world in the long run.

Everyday, millions of these policies are thoughtlessly being implemented. I saw two pieces in yesterday's newspapers that brought this back to mind; one in the US (that will have global impact), and the other in Egypt.

The first was featured on 60 Minutes, and showed how the clauses in the economic stimulus money, especially the "Buy American" model, is affecting Americans. For example, any organization getting the stimulus money must use American steel for any work they do. Seems simple right?? Not exactly. Watch or read this piece to understand why every policy has two sides.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Then this morning I saw this piece in the NY Times about the new "ban pigs" clause that Egypt has come up with, post swine-flu. You wouldn't believe what the effects of that are.


The bottomline is this: Every story has atleast two sides. If it doesn't, then you are being lied to. Be cognizant of both, then make the best decision you can. But also think about how to mitigate the effects of the other side(s).

Skateistan

I thought this video in the New York Times this morning was interesting (though honestly, I thought this video was more fun...also love the song!)




According to their website, Skateistan is

Afghanistan’s first dedicated co-educational skateboarding school. The school will engage with the growing numbers of urbanised youth in Afghanistan through skateboarding and provide new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction and education. Students will be selected from a range of different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Student capacity will be developed in skateboarding, skateboarding instruction, project management, life skills and English. Our aim is to develop a program that empowers youth to take leadership on issues important to them and build networks that will counter current ethnic barriers. See our Frequently Asked Questions section for further details.