VideoA video that shows the side of a country that we rarely see.

Explosions, armed forces, rubble, and violence are images many of us come up with when we hear the words Afghanistan, but this video paints a different light. A look at a beautiful people and culture, one focused on place and identity instead of the terrors of a conflict zone.

Afghanistan – touch down in flight from Augustin Pictures on Vimeo.

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The power of art as activism.

What does it take to change perspective?

That’s the question behind Streets of Afghanistan, a bigger-than-life art exhibition that highlights the beauty and soul of the land and the people of Afghanistan while challenging existing perceptions of the war-torn country.

These aren’t your average travel photos. With life-sized images, the exhibit, a project by Mountain2Mountain, is a ground-breaking collaboration of Afghan and Western photographers, immersing the viewer in the busy streets of Kabul, transporting them directly into the culture and mindset of the country’s people. Through art, we have chance to step into a world that most of us will never see.

Focused around connecting communities through art, this fall the traveling exhibit will return to the place where the images originated, bringing the images back to the streets of Kabul and making the project come full circle.

“These images have allowed the voices and stories of the Afghan community to be heard, unedited, in the United States. Presenting them on the streets of Kabul to share with the Afghan gives back to a people from which so much has been taken and used to fulfill a particular narrative. The power of public art ignites conversation, community, and opens our eyes to both the beauty and the heartbreak seen every day throughout Afghanistan,” says Mountain2Mountain founder Shannon Galpin.

This kind of an endeavor does not come without costs, and Streets of Afghanistan is currently fundraising to make the Afghani exhibit a reality. You can support the project on Kickstarter.

Images: Streets of Afghanistan

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SeriesKeeping Fear at bay means riding into it without brakes.

This is the first of many stories we hope to gather from women who have overcome hurdles and challenges that have made them not only stronger women, but role models for others. Do you have a story you’d like to submit on how you have overcome something? Send us an email at contact@ecosalon.com

I am sitting at my kitchen table, my front door and windows wide open to let in the fresh mountain air, enjoying a cup of coffee and conversation with my best friend, Christiane, on the other side of the country, when the topic of fear came up.  “You should write about Fear, you have experienced it so deeply, and live daily with it nipping at your heels.”  I laughed wryly, “Yeah, Fear is definitely camped outside my door waiting for an invite to come on in.”

Pausing to think if Fear is rabbit hole I really wanted to dive into today, two dogs burst into my kitchen. Neither one of them belong to me and as I chase them out Christiane hears me shout, “Get out! Out! This is not your home, you don’t belong in here!”

“Hmmm”, she says, “It’s as if they arrived on cue to spark that response! Those words could easily apply to fear as much as to the those dogs.” A cosmic sign?  Or just two overly curious and cheeky canines looking for some free food? To me, Fear is the summation of all the undefineable things that throw up resistance to change, roadblocks to experience, and an inability to love unconditionally. Not a fan of roadblocks of any kind, fear is not a companion I am willing to share my time, or my coffee, with. I have experienced it keenly as rape victim – brutal violence and violation that left me in a broken heap in the dirt. I endure its nearby presence daily as the founder of an international non profit that hasn’t yet turned the corner financially, and as a single mother that risked everything to fight for women’s rights in conflict zones like Afghanistan and at times has to choose between groceries and phone bill. I know how closely Fear is shadowing me.

The trick is to recognize Fear, to say hello as you would to the paranoid Tea Party supporter you see at the coffee shop every day, but to not make friends with it. If you simply try to ignore it, it tries to engage you in conversation, sucking you into the abyss.  But acknowledging it sets boundaries. “Hi, I see ya, but I’m too busy to chat today.”  Move along.  I’ve got things to do.

It’s the same on a mountain bike.  I have donated my fair share of blood and skin to the Gods of Dirt and Rock along with a cracked rib and broken elbow. One particularly pricey donation came while bombing down the backside of Hall Ranch chasing a much faster, and experienced, friend. I washed out on a slab of rock covered in a veil of loose dirt and ripped the better part of my forearm and elbow off.  I spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out what was me and was rock, and I know that by continuing to ride, donations like this are part of the contract.  Fear whispers, “Slow down, use your brakes.  Dismount before the rock garden. Don’t try to lift your wheel over that ledge, you’ll get hurt again!” But what Fear doesn’t realize is getting hurt is part of the game.  No one is invincible, we’re not built that way.  Life is meant to PLAY.

The therapy I get from two wheels, one gear, and miles of singletrack, overwhelmingly outweighs the risks.  The combination of a clear head, burned out quads, and dirt in my teeth far exceeds the occasional bodily appeasement to the deities. The irony is that by conquering Fear on my bike, I keep the daily Fear of life at bay, much like the old song, by Little Richard, “I hear you knocking but you can’t come in,” I call out.

The little victories on the bike translate into confidence and courage and then equals bigger victories off the bike. Choosing to get back on the bike knowing it may draw blood is a choice, and one I make willingly, even happily knowing that 95% of the time I’ll come off my bike, sore and dirty, but also gloriously happy.

I embrace the risks I’ve taken, without them I wouldn’t have ridden my singlespeed across the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. I probably wouldn’t have started mountain biking in the first place. I wouldn’t have lived abroad for ten years. I wouldn’t have started a business, or a non profit. I wouldn’t have entered the fight for women’s rights. I wouldn’t vacation in war zones. I wouldn’t have fallen in love. Twice. Hell, I wouldn’t have even become a mother, by far the scariest thing I’ve done to date, as anyone that has stared down a three-year-old’s tantrum can attest to.

Sorry, Fear, but you have to stay outside with the dogs.

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Video“I think art can change society.”

In 2010 Ommulbanin Shamsia Hassani took part in a workshop organized by Combat Communications in Kabul, Afghanistan. She learned the art of graffiti and brought her work to the streets of her city. This inspiring video produced by Kabul at Work, serves as a reminder of the power of art to empower an individual and its potential to create change in a society.

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Breaking barriers at home and abroad.

As the founder of Mountain2Mountain, Shannon Galpin empowers women in conflict zones by providing them with a voice and access to education and vocational training. Galpin works primarily in Afghanistan and famously cycles across dangerous zones like the Panjshir Valley – where Afghan women can be punished and even killed for riding a bike – to bring attention to women’s issues. Talk about cojones. We have incredible respect for Galpin’s work. As it turns out, she’s a fan of us too.

Name: Shannon Galpin

Website: http://www.mountain2mountain.org

What do you love about EcoSalon?

I adore the complete range of lifestyle articles, from alternative design and architecture, to green living and relationships, often covered from a truly unique and irreverent perspective! My favorite column is Foodie Underground – one week I’m dreaming of a fish taco-fueled Baja escape, the next rediscovering my Parisian addiction to the vast array of brightly colored macarons, to looking at oysters as not just a food but as an important part of a sustainable relationship with our food sources and waterfront economies. I love to see food discussed not as vegan or paleo, or as it relates to diet or body image, but instead reading about the pure joy of food, where it comes from, and how our communities are related to the food sources themselves. But I am also a huge sucker for the Sex by Numbers series, especially the Republican Caucus edition!

Tell us about Mountain2Mountain.

Mountain2Mountain was founded nearly five years ago with the desire to create voice and value for women and children in conflict zones. Essentially, I knew I didn’t want to just build schools or clinics as a reaction. We want to create catalysts within conflict zones that can create a ripple through their communities which creates a more sustainable and community-driven approach for change. We can do that by improving access for education, by activism for women’s rights, through vocational training, and through media training. One of our newest programs we are launching this year is called Combat Apathy, and its based on the idea that voice matters. So we work with citizen journalism and leadership with young adults in conflict zones and evolve into youth driven social impact programs that we support to tackle the issues of women’s rights, sex trafficking, LGBT rights, and war and conflict. If individuals are given the opportunity to use their voice, people will listen and you can instill a sense of value and confidence that we can cultivate into social action and community action. We have been working in Afghanistan for four years but are expanding into Cambodia, Mexico and other conflict regions this year as well.

Why women’s rights, and why Afghanistan?

I staunchly believe that we need to think of women’s rights as human rights. Women’s involvement in their community, their government, and global affairs are integral to the future of our global community. Gender equity is not just morally right, it is pivotal to global sustainable development. It is number 3 on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals – not just because its morally right but because empowering women will contribute to achieving all the other goals, reducing poverty, improving maternal health, improving universal education, combating HIV/AIDS, and even environmental sustainability. Afghanistan is consistently ranked the worst place in the world to be a woman so to me it seemed like the best place to start! It’s also a country that is the source of so much apathy in the US – overloaded with negative media and our ongoing military involvement – it seemed to me that if we could challenge stereotypes of Afghans in the U.S. and of Americans in Afghanistan baby steps could emerge.

One way you’ve broken barriers is by mountain biking across dangerous regions of Afghanistan. Can you talk a bit about the cultural implications of an act like that?

Well, Afghanistan is one of the few places in the world where women are not allowed to ride bikes. Around the world the bike is used as an effective vehicle for social justice and it was frustrating to realize that it just wasn’t something we could utilize in rural communities for school transportation, or for midwives and teachers. After working in Afghanistan for a couple of years I realized that I was constantly challenging gender barriers as part of my daily routine. When I’m in Kabul I like to walk as much as I can and interact with the Afghans I met in a more natural way. I ride a motorcycle which I bought in Kabul to avoid the traffic snarls that congest the city at rush hour, thanks to the lawlessness that permeates the country it means that you can ride on the sidewalk, or weave backwards through oncoming traffic, it’s all about the shortcuts. Being a foreign woman means that I find myself in a unique position as a hybrid gender. Men that still treat Afghan women as second class citizens will treat me as an equal and let me challenge gender barriers like riding my mountain bike because they are curious or intrigued but not threatened. It’s a little thing, but I also wanted to show another side of Afghanistan, the beauty, the adventure, and the possibility that what was once a tourist destination, could perhaps be again in the future if peace was ever achieved.

You’re obviously dealing with very heavy issues. What keeps you motivated and inspired?

My daughter, Devon, is a huge source of daily inspiration – nothing like the complete open honesty that a seven year old has to help you see the world in a fresh way. She’s also a big reason that I’m taking on the issues I am. Firstly feeling the responsibility to do my part to make the world a little better for her and her generation. Secondly to set an example to her that you MUST be involved in the world. The responsibility is not with governments or global organizations – it’s with individuals, citizen diplomats. Lastly, it’s important to remember that we are part of the global community. I want her to realize she is a global citizen, not just an American. She has to know that young girls in Afghanistan, or Cambodia, or even closer in Mexico are no different than her – and thus deserves the same access and rights.

The post We Heart Our Readers: Shannon Galpin, Mountain2Mountain appeared first on EcoSalon.

A decade ago, I spent a year living in Sweden. Despite what mass media might have you believe, the country is in fact more than just bombshell blonds and smorgasbords. While there, I befriended several Iranians, their families having fled during the reign of the Shah and taken refuge in Scandinavia. I was quickly taken in as an extra daughter by these hospitable and warm families, the mothers ready to please and ensure that I was taken care of. I grew to love Persian rice pilaf and the masses of yogurt and dill ever present at meals.

This was several years before words like “axis of evil” and “uranium” became associated with the country, so for me, when someone mentions Iran I immediately envision large family parties with rhythmic Persian dance music, tables overflowing with delicious food, and older Iranian women explaining to me just who had made what and which family recipe was used. To me, Iran means warmth, generosity and, above all, a culinary tradition that deserves respect; a good reminder that food really can bridge cultural gaps.

In the foodie world we’ve seen this happen with places like Thailand and India, countries known for their culinary traditions that have become almost as deeply ingrained in American food culture as hamburgers and hot dogs. Although I don’t have any hard statistics on the link between enjoying food from a certain country and our relations toward it, it’s logical to assume the more we love the food from a certain place, the more we’re inclined to learn about it and discover the country’s culture – and we all know that cultural understanding is a key component in promoting a more peaceful world.

There are some new tastes on the block trying to do just that, and they’re from places you might only have seen referenced in news headlines. Conflict Kitchen, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is making a name for itself by serving up takeout food only from countries that the United States is in conflict with. North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan; these might be household names when it comes to the nightly news, but with a focus on their culinary prowess, more emphasis is being put on the cultural forces of the country and less on their current standing in global affairs.

The food served at Conflict Kitchen will rotate every four months to feature another country. The takeout storefront is currently decked out in a colorful Iranian exterior and serves up the country’s traditional kubideh in freshly baked barbari bread with onion, mint, and basil. Beyond providing delicious and unique food, the ultimate goal is to encourage discussion. According to the website, “Each Conflict Kitchen iteration will be augmented by events, performances, and discussion about the the culture, politics, and issues at stake with each county we focus on.”

How the food is served is also a key component in educating the general public on cultural issues. “Developed in collaboration with members of the Pittsburgh Iranian community, the sandwich is packaged in a custom-designed wrapper that includes interviews with Iranians both in Pittsburgh and Iran on subjects ranging from Iranian food and poetry to the current political turmoil.”

Recently, the grant-funded Conflict Kitchen held a simultaneously meal between Pittsburgh and Teheran, where dinners in both cities were joined together by Skype. Free and open to the public, this is an excellent example of how food can bring people, who normally are worlds apart, together and inspire long lasting conversations that tackle difficult questions like tradition and culture and in turn change our perceptions.

You can keep up with the Conflict Kitchen and what food they’ll be featuring next on their website.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground. Each week, Anna will be taking a look at something new and different that’s taking place in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to culinary avant garde.

Images: Conflict Kitchen

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