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There’s a reason we’re the “EPICenter”

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake that “rocked” the small town of Mineral, Virginia on Tuesday and could be felt by an estimated 12.2 million people up and down the Eastern Seaboard ranked right up there with the most traumatic experiences of my life. Getting braces, first kiss, awful acne, nothing can compare with the horrifying feeling of everything good and stable in this world being yanked out from under your very feet. It was like having your grandmother’s finest china on a table and trying to whip out the tablecloth without knocking anything off, and you do it and everyone’s nervous but then excited that the dishware is ok, when suddenly a rogue train bursts its way through your living room window. Scary.

Here in the EPIC office, we hear the rumblings of trains at Union Station pretty regularly, so originally everyone thought it was just another commuter headed north. Then it got stronger. The first thought that came to my head hearkened back to high school physics, that the train had somehow matched the resonant frequency of the building (it can happen!), and I knew that I was about to be buried under a mountain of brick and rubble when the whole edifice came tumbling down. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed over my panic and our entire staff managed to escape down the stairs and out the door.

Still slightly on edge, the EPIC staff returned to the building. I at least secretly hoped that there would be a few good aftershocks, but fortunately for everyone, in DC and up and down the coast, the earthquake turned out to be not so serious. There were some minor injuries, and at least one grocery store aisle was ravaged, but aside from a four hour commute back home hardly anyone was even inconvenienced in a major way.

The most surprising, and heartwarming, story I’ve heard coming out of DC’s latest natural disaster was a message to EPIC Director Erik within minutes of the quake from a friend in Baghdad asking if he was ok. Erik told us, “That was the first time he’s ever had to ask me that.” What amazed me about it was, first, that this man in Baghdad knew so quickly that the quake happened, and second, that the first thought that came to him was of his friend thousands of miles away.

Everyone has their own problems to deal with, and anyone in Baghdad has probably had more than their share, but even when a very minor earthquake rumbles a city like Washington, there occurs an upwelling of camaraderie from around the globe that illustrates of how connected the world community can be. And the thought of a man in Baghdad, who lives every day with the legacy of war, reaching out to a friend whose most pressing problem was finding a paper towel to wipe off his desk, is a touching reminder that the relationships we build and the community we create will ultimately be the forces that define our lives.

Spotlight on Iraq: Friday News Roundup

The Turkish air force bombed targets in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing at least seven. The raids are in retaliation for a PKK attack on a military unit in Southern Turkey. The PKK, a Kurdish separatist group, is active in Southern Turkey and Northern Iraq, and has been declared a terrorist group in Ankara.

The coordinated bombings that ravaged Iraqi cities last week may have been part of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia’s plan for revenge for the American killing of Osama bin Laden. The group has said it will carry out 100 attacks and that “pure blood will not go in vain.” Though the group is weaker than it was in 2007, Monday’s events testify that this presents a very real threat.

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry gave his opinion about the timetable for the military’s exit from Iraq, saying, “Look, I think the president made a huge mistake by signaling the enemy that we’re going to leave at a particular time.” However, he gave no mention of how or when he would start bringing troops home.

The Iraqi Government is exploring major infrastructure projects, like a proposed high-speed rail line between Baghdad and the Southern Provinces. Many are skeptical, especially when Baghdad residents have to go without any electricity at all for hours each day, but the government insists the projects are feasible with the right funding.

But speaking of electricity, proposals have been submitted by major multinationals for the right to build a natural gas-fired plant north of Baghdad to provide electricity to the city. The winning company will be announced by the end of the month.

An EPIC Summer

Just as summer is winding down, things are starting to heat up at EPIC. A generous donor has come forward to match all donations to EPIC dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 through September 1st. That means for every $100 donation you make, EPIC will get $200 for our programs promoting peace and supporting young people in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Donate to EPIC today and your gift will have double the impact

In DC, we’re starting Labor Day Weekend in style with our Summer Fundraiser for Iraqi Youth on September 1. We’ll be joined by EPIC Executive Director Erik Gustafson and Iraq Field Representative Christine van den Toorn just days before they head off to lead the Iraqi Youth Hike program.

RSVP today! Your donation will be matched!

Nothing quite puts what we’re doing with our Iraqi Youth Hike program into perspective like launching the English, Arabic, and Kurdish versions of the applications for potential participants. We’re not just reaching one group, we’re trying to reach every group.

The students we reach with our programs will double, triple, and quadruple their impact on their communities. By taking what they learn at our workshops and on the hike about working together and then applying those lessons at home, these Iraqi youth will spread the message of peacebuilding farther and farther.

It’s a lot like how you can double your impact to EPIC with a donation right now.

Multiply the message of peacebuilding, donate to EPIC and have your donation matched

The number of youth in Iraq is growing. A majority of the country is under 24 years old. These are young people with a desire for peace and prosperity, but few opportunities to be a part of building that. Help EPIC create opportunities for young people to become messengers of opportunity.

Iraqi youth have big ideas for the future of their country. EPIC is empowering them to turn those ideas into reality. But we need you. Right now, your $100 donation will put $200 to support our work on the ground in Iraq with Iraqi youth.

Please make a donation right now to double the power of youth in Iraq

Spotlight on Iraq: Friday News Roundup

The first weeks of Ramadan ushered in a festive mood throughout Iraq and the Arab world only to be stunned by a wave of attacks “eerily similar” to one a year previous.

Ramadan in Iraq usually means business slows as the Islamic ritual of fasting and celebration comes to the fore. However, brutal heat during the month this year may make life difficult for some.

Iraqi political leaders have met with American military ones and have worked out the preliminary parts of an agreement to keep US forces in Iraq past December in a training role. Still to be worked out is the status of American defense contractors.

Two American mothers have traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan “to help finish a mission their children started.” Both moms lost a child in the Iraq War and now hope to show the gains that have been made in Iraq since.

Eight Iraqis, members of the Iraq Agricultural Extension Revitalization Project, spent the week at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, learning about farming methods developed in the American Southwest that might be equally useful in Iraq’s dry climate.

A religious delegation from Kurdistan will depart for the US this week to attend an international council on religious coexistence, in a sign that US-Iraqi cooperation is moving beyond the scope of the military.

In other interesting religious news, the Atlantic Monthly chronicles a novel effort by the US military in Afghanistan to promote peace and religious tolerance. Similar strategies may prove useful to promote trust in Iraq.

Nature Hiking Pennsylvania Avenue

I went out canvassing on Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday, to put up flyers and spread the word about EPIC’s September fundraiser, and for the most part was pleasantly surprised by how willing local restaurateurs were to use their advertising space for a good cause. Some places, of course, didn’t have anywhere to put anything up, but most had small bulletin boards near the entrance and a couple of tacks and were more than happy to let me post EPIC news. The best were Burrito Brothers and Good Stuff Eatery, which insisted that I use their tape to put the flyer up and showed me the places that would catch the most passing eyes, and for whom I am shamelessly willing to advertise.

But the best, and perhaps my favorite place in the entire District of Columbia, was a tiny place just across the street from the Eastern Market Metro stop called the Li’l Pub, the self-proclaimed “only neighborhood bar in Capitol Hill,” and it absolutely showed in the way they treated me and everyone else who walks in the door. At first skeptical of an advertisement, the manager noticed its location at Kenneth H. Nash Post 8 and instantly his face brightened in recognition.

“Anything put on at Kenneth H. Nash is good for me! I’m a veteran! That’s my post!” Soon, Pub Manager AJ and I were papering the entire length of the tiny bar with EPIC flyers, putting them on bathroom doors and phone boxes, windows and walls. We’d put one up and he’d ask immediately if I wanted to put up another, but I almost felt bad that already his patrons wouldn’t be able to walk inside without being overwhelmed by news of our fundraiser.

So instead, we talked about his experience in the Army (he had been in Vietnam), the programs EPIC is developing for Iraqi youths and how we’re working with Iraq War vets, and life in general around Eastern Market and on the Hill. AJ and the Li’l Pub took me in, turned me into a regular, and introduced me to another person excited to learn about EPIC and our mission. Now, if ever I feel the need for Earl Weaver-era Baltimore Orioles paraphernalia and a homely environment, there’s a little place just down the street that’s always happy to welcome back a friend.

Double your impact on EPIC

Donate to EPIC today and your gift will have double the impact

It’s a lot like how you can double your impact to EPIC with a donation right now.

Multiply the message of peacebuilding, donate to EPIC and have your donation matched

Please make a donation right now to double the power of youth in Iraq

An Ode to Nature

Seattle kids float on umbrellas like Mary Poppins

A good friend once told me a story about growing up in Seattle, where it rained all the time and the kids bring their umbrellas to school. Apparently, a favorite schoolyard game was to pop the umbrella open and jump down a hill, trying to fly like Mary Poppins, catching updrafts and singing about the powers of sugar and clean bedrooms.

It never rains in Southern Wyoming, so nobody brought their umbrellas to school when I was growing up. But the wind howls all winter long, and when we were kids we used to unzip our coats and open them up like airplane wings before running down the playground trying to take off. I always thought that if I made my revving noises loud enough and that if the wind were strong enough I could get airborne, but despite my best efforts this modern-day Icarus never quite got off the ground.

No matter where we are though, and sometimes despite our best efforts, our lives are intimately connected with and heavily influenced by the environment in which we live. John Muir used to say, “I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” I would tend to agree. We reflect the natural environment that surrounds us. Going into nature is, in many ways, like going into ourselves.

And I, for one, am convinced that nature’s effect on our lives goes even beyond the ways we dress, eat, build houses, or play children’s games. Rather, our connection to the natural world determines the way we think, act, and fundamentally value our lives. We’re all just as much a product of the environment as a Dust Bowl farmer with a sack of money under the mattress.

To me, being in nature is about re-discovery. It’s easy to forget the things that I care about and that I want to surround myself with living in the city or even suburbs, but a slow walk through a forest lends a fresh perspective. Buildings and roads and the things we create are perfectly ordered, and smack of artificiality. You won’t find tropical saffron and Mediterranean sage anywhere near each other, but the alphabet has decided they’ll be neighbors in my laboriously organized spice rack. It’s the antithesis of nature, which somehow manages to overcome the chaos without trying. It’s old and slow, but it’s been around a lot longer than we have, so it must be doing something right. And in its unhurried way, nature does things that, despite thousands of years of human technology, still leave me awestruck and agape. The perfection that you can see in the Teton Mountains back in Wyoming, or the bends of the Shenandoah River here in Virginia, or even the understory of your local forest, was all faultlessly created by the only architect seamlessly in-tune with the environment—the environment itself.

Nature is something, unfortunately, that not everybody gets to experience, despite what it says about ourselves and the people around us. If only we are in touch with it, that itself creates a sense of community and shared humanity that can serve as a jumping off point for a deeper appreciation of different cultures, religions, and worldviews. With our upcoming nature hike, EPIC will try to introduce Iraqi youth to the natural environment in a way that encourages just this sort of understanding and tolerance. Long term, our belief is that strong communities built upon mutual admiration are the cornerstones of sustainable peace in Iraq, and our hope is that, through programs like hikes and summer camps, Iraqi youth can begin to connect and create relationships that will create a prosperous, stable Iraqi future.

Now we want to know what nature means to you and how it impacts your life. Write us a message, post on the blog, shoot us an email at hike@epic-usa.org or even give Lauren a call. Let us know why your world is special.

The Secret Life of the Summer Camper

Every kid loves summer. No homework, lots of sunshine, and plenty of adventures to be had. Is there anything better? Not in my book.

With the end of every school year, I habitually ditched shoes and headed for the great outdoors. My summers were spent with my two brothers, romping through forests, on beaches, and exploring anywhere else we could find the slightest hint of fun. A successful summer was benchmarked by the bottoms of my feet– they had to be as black as tar (I spent the first eight years of my childhood in North Carolina, after all) and could painlessly endure even the prickliest of pine cones.

I was fortunate enough to not only have two parents who both had free summers to spend with us, but also to have two sets of grandparents who chose to retire in vacation destinations. Consequently, the fleeting summer months of my childhood were split between the quiet beach community of Topsail Island, NC and a sleepy fishing town called Chatham on Cape Cod, with a few weeks at home in between trips, of course. To say that I didn’t adore my summers would be a boldfaced lie, but there was always one thing that irked me come September and the return to school.

The first few days of school were, and always will be, undoubtedly the most anticipated. Seeing long lost friends for the first time in months, hearing about their summer escapades, and then sharing your own create an incentive strong enough to make kids briefly, but definitely, long for school to start. During those first few days, every student eagerly awaited recess and lunch for the opportunity to disclose their exciting, and usually mildly –or heavily– exaggerated tales. Like clockwork, after a story about a trip to Disney World or the Grand Canyon, we would arrive at the inevitable: summer camp.

When the conversation turned in this direction, as it did every year, I prepared myself to be sidelined for the remainder of the discussion. The eye-contact turned awkward as I had to glance off gazes requesting affirmation through the endless “you know what I mean?”s about the dreamy college-aged camp counselor, the terrible camp food, or the similarities between all camp songs. I could never quite grasp the unique experience of spending a summer in a melting pot of kids and developing strictly “summer friends” to look forward to the following year. As I sat quietly and listened, I became intrigued by the idea of such a place– a community of people, grownups and kids alike, dedicated to fun.

Even after the years of listening to countless stories, I am convinced that my understanding of summer camps is still very surface level. Unfortunately, despite my persistence and insistence, my parents never agreed that summer camp was the destination for me. Since those early years of intrigue, I have always wondered… what is it about summer camps that keeps bringing kids back by the flock? What experience did you have at summer camp that cemented your loyalty or that you still look back on nostalgically today?

Rethinking Iraq

Most of my 1991 was spent playing Super Mario Bros. 3 and learning how to write in cursive. Only one of those skills has stuck with me and my handwriting isn’t very good.

What has really stuck with me from 1991, though, happened at Christmas. Not the gifts or decorations. I’m sure at the time I loved them like any kid loves presents, but I couldn’t tell you if I got socks or a Barbie mini-Jeep.

It was one of those rare nights my dad let me stay up late to watch The Tonight Show with him. Maybe it was a Friday, maybe winter break had already started, or maybe he was just spoiling his daughter like usual. I’m sure half of Johnny Carson’s jokes went over my head. Like Christmas that year, I have no idea who the guests were that night. But I do remember what would happen right before a commercial break. A video from some hot, sandy place would feature a Soldier or Marine wearing a Santa hat and wishing their family back home a Merry Christmas. They would promise to come home safely and that they would see everyone again soon.

I couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand why these moms and dads wouldn’t be home for the holidays. Why they weren’t staying up late watching Carson with their kids or debating the finer points of tinsel placement on a Christmas tree.

For many years, that was Iraq to me, the place that took parents away from their children. Admittedly, my conceptualization of international politics was lacking at that age.

Over the past few years, I’ve been able to rethink Iraq and what it means to me. As I grew up, my ability to see the complexity in international relations developed. Now I see Iraq for what it is: a country where people, Iraqis and Americans, are working to ensure Iraqi children live better lives. I’ve never been there myself, but I have friends and colleagues who have. For many of them, Iraq will always be part of what makes them who they are no matter how many years pass.

That’s the case for Brian Turner, a soldier turned poet who first entered Baghdad in the back of a Stryker assault vehicle. Mortar rounds and shrapnel are his first memories of Iraq. But recently, he returned to Baghdad because, “I wanted to know what had become of this place where I’d once come to war.” He writes at National Geographic, “In the years since [the invasion], I’ve often wondered what it must be like for Iraqis struggling to reclaim a life for themselves: the welder, the student, the taxi driver, the old woman, the couple getting married.”

Turner finds that not only Baghdad has changed, but so has the way he thinks about Iraq:

Something has changed within me as well. With each passing day, the adrenaline that accompanied my return to the city has subsided. I can see more clearly now that Baghdad is becoming a new version of itself—not a place defined by war, where journalists and the addicts of danger ply their trades, but a more livable, thriving place.

Also recently finding her way back to Iraq is Emma Sky, a civilian who advised Generals Odierno and Petraeus on everything from Iraqi politics to reconstruction projects. She left Iraq in September 2010 after spending over three years there but found herself back in Baghdad only nine months later. She writes at Tom Ricks’ Best Defense:

I take a tour of Baghdad with a senior Iraqi official. He is an old friend from whom I have learned so much about this country over the years. We visit old haunts. I can clearly observe the changes that have taken place in the last nine months. The local economy has improved. The private sector is certainly taking off. More shops are open. New cars are on the roads. People are busy going about their everyday affairs. Many concrete T-walls have gone. Security forces are less visible.

What I’ve learned from veterans like Turner and experts like Sky is that Iraq means something different to everyone who has been there, but it means something. I’ve also learned that Iraq isn’t some distant country that I’ve only seen on CNN, it’s a place many Americans carry around with them every day.

When I was younger, I thought of Iraq as a distant place where American soldiers went to battle Saddam. I’ve found it’s not so distant. Iraq is inside the Iraqis who have come to America to escape assassination and it’s inside the veterans who spent multiple deployments there. Iraq is a part of their lives forever.

I’ve had to rethink Iraq. For me, Iraq was a catalyst. One that sparked my interest in finding out why moms and dads have to spend Christmas in Kuwait, not Albuquerque. As the U.S. relationship with Iraq matures, rethinking about Iraq will become even more important. As the pieces by Turner and Sky illustrate, Iraq is not static. It is always changing. Even those who have been there and spent time there find a new Iraq when they return.

It’s an Iraq where there is hope for the future. In downtown Baghdad, Sky meets an Iraqi singer. He’s seen the world, even been to America. She asks him about the future. “Things are slowly getting better in Iraq, he assures me. Iraqis just want to live. It is going to take a long time — a very long time.”

Join EPIC in DC for a night of fun and fundraising

We’re in the dog days of summer right now. In Washington, DC, July 2011 was the hottest month on record in over 200 years of recordkeeping!

In Iraq, the government declared the first ever “heat holiday” and closed government offices in an effort to give workers and citizens a break from the 122 degree temperatures. Good timing, too, as today marks the first day of Ramadan when Muslims begin fasting from dawn to sunset during which they abstain from both food and water.

Offices in Iraqi Kurdistan stayed open as it was a cooler 110 degrees there.

These sweltering July and August days may have you looking ahead to September and some end of summer relief.

If you’re in DC and looking to start your Labor Day Weekend in style, consider joining EPIC for our Summer Cocktail Fundraiser for Iraqi Youth on September 1. We’ll be joined by EPIC Executive Director Erik Gustafson and Iraq Field Representative Christine van den Toorn just days before they head off to lead the Iraqi Youth Hike program.

Youth are already a majority of the population in Iraq and their numbers are only growing. Find out how you can support EPIC and them while enjoying traditional Iraqi oud music, light appetizers, and a cash bar.

You are cordially invited to a

Thursday, September 1, 2011

6 – 9 pm

Kenneth H. Nash Post 8

224 D St. SE, Washington, DC

(on Capitol Hill near Capitol South Metro)

Minimum suggested donation: $100

Thank you for your RSVP
http://www.epic-usa.org/rsvp

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empowering youth for peace in Iraq

There’s a reason we’re the “EPICenter”

Spotlight on Iraq: Friday News Roundup

An EPIC Summer

Spotlight on Iraq: Friday News Roundup

Nature Hiking Pennsylvania Avenue

Double your impact on EPIC

Join EPIC in DC for a night of fun and fundraising