Interview with Photo Journalist Paula Lerner
If you’re a regular reader of the Friday Morning Fix, the name Paula Lerner should ring a bell. On February 5th, 2009 I attended a lecture entitled “Afghan Stories: Giving Women a Voice.” The presentation gave an overview of the collaborative efforts of photo journalist Paula Lerner and Afghan activist Rangina Hamidi (proprietor of Kandahar Treasure). Both women are social activists focused on giving Afghani women opportunities to become economically self-sufficient.
I recently caught up with Paula after she returned from yet another trip to Afghanistan and she was kind enough to have a discussion with me about the situation on the ground. Below is our conversation. Please feel free to comment at the end and if you’re interested in learning more about Paula’s upcoming events – send her a note here with “join mailing list” in the subject. You should also let her know which part of the country you live in. If there’s an event nearby, she’ll let you know.
RHM: What originally drew you to Afghanistan? And what inspired you to become an activist?
Paula Lerner: Women’s issues have been a theme in my work throughout my career, and the situation of women in Afghanistan has particularly intrigued me. There may be places on the planet where women are equally disadvantaged due to their gender, but it would be hard to find many places where they are more so.
My original connection with Afghanistan came via an organization called the Business Council for Peace, also known as Bpeace, which helps women launch and maintain self sustaining businesses in regions of post conflict. Their motto is that more jobs means less violence. They have programs in Rwanda and Afghanistan, and when I joined the organization as a member in 2003, I became part of the Afghanistan team. I went on three different missions with Bpeace to Afghanistan as part of a team. My role was to document Bpeace programs through photos and digital audio recordings. Through Bpeace I met Rangina Hamidi, an Afghan American who lives and works in Kandahar, and who runs a business employing more than 400 women called Kandahar Treasure. Currently Rangina and I are collaborating on a long-term project about women in Kandahar, and I have made two additional trips to Afghanistan for that project. I just returned from my last trip a few weeks ago.
Over the course of my career, most of my personal projects have had an activist element to it. Prior to the Afghanistan project I did a body of work on a welfare mom and a book about breast cancer walks. The power of pictures to educate and to move people to action is strong, and I want to use that power to the full extent possible. Combining still images and sound in the form of multimedia can increase this power exponentially. I have no illusions that I can change the world with this work, but it is my experience that it can have an impact and make small but important dents here and there. And it can mean a great deal to the subjects themselves, which in itself is very valuable.
RHM: Your friend Rangina Hamidi’s Kandahar Treasure initiative that you’ve been involved with has done great things for so many Afghan women. Do you think events like the recent assassination of Sitara Achakzi could be enough to scare away others? How will it affect your ongoing efforts of giving women the tools to liberate themselves?
Paula Lerner: I was heartbroken about the assassination of Sitara Achakzi, who was a member of the Kandahar Provincial Council. She was in the group of Kandahari women that Rangina and I are profiling for our project. I did an in depth interview and spent time with her only a few weeks before her death. She was a smart, articulate and vivacious woman who was working hard to improve things for men, women and children in Kandahar. Afghanistan needs more people like her, not fewer of them. It was a cowardly, dishonorable act for the Taliban to murder her in such a brutal way. Sadly, I do think it has a chilling effect on others who are doing similar kind of work, and it intimidates ordinary Afghan women who might otherwise take more of an initiative to foster change.
RHM: There’s been much talk lately of an Iraqi-esque “surge” of American combat troops in Afghanistan. Assume you’ve been appointed President Barack Obama’s special advisor on Afghanistan. How would you advise him?
Paula Lerner: If I were an advisor to President Obama, I would tell him that it is critical to have any “surge” of troops be part of a larger development strategy. America was hugely distracted from its mission in Afghanistan by the war in Iraq, and we left many promises unfulfilled. In order for there to be peace in Afghanistan, Afghans need to have the basics that make it worthwhile to “wage” peace.
For starters, we need to fix the basic infrastructure in the country: Kabul did not have electricity 24/7 until a few months ago, and much of the country and some parts of the city still do not have a regular and reliable source of power. Without power you can’t build factories, and without things like factories, its very difficult to create new jobs. Even shopkeepers in the capital often have to try to sell their goods in the dark. The roads in much of the country remain a mess as a result of the legacy of years of war; a reliable water supply is another problem. I could go on and on about basic infrastructure failures. It is critical that we address these issues in conjunction with any troop “surge”, because if we don’t, we will never get beyond where things stand now.
Many young men join the Taliban not because they ideologically agree with them, but because they are unemployed and the Taliban is the only game in town. Given a choice between no job prospects and being able to help provide for their family by joining the Taliban, most will opt for the latter. The same goes for growing poppy. If we give these young men other viable options, we will have far more of an impact than by trying to quell insurgents by force alone.
Special thanks to Paula for taking the time to do this. Click here to see her Afghan Stories exhibit.
Reminder: I am lecturing today on “21st Century Terrorism” at Salem State College. I’ll post a review, some pictures, and probably some video clips soon. Be sure to check back. Sign up on the right side if you want to be notified of updates.
UPDATED TO INCLUDE: Here is an overview of my lecture.
To book me for a lecture or debate go here.
See you next week.
About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American college educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a M.A. in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism) and a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Use the form on the right to sign up and receive notifications of new content. The words and ideas expressed here are 100% his own and not those of his employers or affiliated organizations.