On Thought Leaders and Global Citizens
"The whirling belongs to you," wrote the Sufi poet Rumi, who was born in northern Afghanistan in the 13th Century – "and you belong to the whirling..-."
I met Ian Pounds recently in New York through Paul Stevers, founder of CharityHelp International (CHI).
For Ian Pounds, the "whirling" was 140 days living as a volunteer in a girl’s orphanage.
Isolated in a section of the city otherwise off limits to western workers, he taught English, drama, photography, and computer skills to 180 children from three different orphanages.
Ian Pounds was so moved by his 5-month visit with Kabul’s orphans he plans to move back.
This is the same orphanage run by my friend Andeisha Farid, whom I wrote about last spring (here).
NBC’s Brian Williams brilliantly portrayed this same orphanage in his Making A Difference segment of the Nightly News (video), which I have also written about (here). There are many, many more stories there.
The orphanage is run by the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) and is supported by CharityHelp International.
Ian impressed me with his passion and commitment to the children of Afghanistan. After our interview, I followed him to the New York Rotary Club where he was the luncheon speaker.
Ian spoke to the New York City Rotary Club about his experience with Afghani orphans.
Rotary is committed to building peace (see Rotary Addresses Root Causes of Conflict and War).
Ian impressed the gathered Rotarians greatly. No easy task they have heard everyone. This augers well for he has speaking engagements planned until March when he will return to Afghanistan.
This time, he is selling his house in Vermont, making a bigger commitment. Ian is very much for real. You will find his open journal covering his five months in Afghanistan on-line.
Kabul: The girls of the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization.
"If just one of those Afghan kids," Ian wrote in his journal, "doesn't grow up to be a suicide bomber or to setting IEDs in dirt roads because of my time there, that is a powerful argument to go."
And more, as a crisis counselor and writer, Ian has long believed that the education and empowerment of women directly leads to solutions of worldwide problems.
Though he taught many boys in Kabul, it is his daily observation of the girls that resonates throughout his journal.
You can see Ian interact with the kids of Kabul where he taught them a special song recorded on YouTube. You will witness stories, music, photos, and video footage, creating a tapestry of Afghanistan not likely found on CNN.
Ian Pounds with former New York Rotary President Dr. Camilo T. Uy.
Ian is currently speaking to groups across the U.S. Claiming to be no expert on Afghanistan, he brings a uniqueness of experience living in a house full of orphans, sharing what he has learned with as many people as possible.
His five months on the ground there, unable to stray outside the gates for fear of kidnapping and violence, only with contact with Afghans the entire time, gives him a unique perspective.
He spent all his time working with the kids, studying the language and history, and having daily talks with his new friend - a man who has lived in Kabul through the Soviet era, civil war, Taliban, and now the present war.
I interviewed Ian Pounds last week in New York as he tours the U.S. on his speaking tour.
As Ian makes his way on his speaking tour, he has already raised almost $6,000. He hopes for $10,000 by the time he returns to Kabul.
All funds raised, Ian assured me, will go into an educational fund for the kids.
"I need someone or some company to sponsor me, as I have run out of personal funds. I estimate I need only $30,000 to be able to give two years of service in Kabul," he estimated.
"I plan to return to the U.S. in the middle of those two years for another speaking tour. Of course, all my efforts will include a very special nod to the sources of my support." Not a large sum.
I had a chance to interview Ian Pounds in New York on his recent experiences in Kabul.
Ian’s education began with Semester at Sea, a shipboard campus devoted to global studies.
He acquired his B.A. in creative writing from The Evergreen State College, and later studied Elizabethan literature at Oxford University.
For three years he practiced Vipassana meditation, and for three more years he homesteaded an otherwise deserted island in Southeast Alaska.
His plays have been showcased at Seattle’s New City Theatre and Olympia’s Black Box.
He’s been a stonemason, a performance poet, a counselor of runaway teens, and has led workshops for the Association for Experiential Education and the Vermont Stage Company.
He was a scholar at the famous Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, where he served over ten years on the admissions committee and coordinated the Bakeless Literary Prizes. He has recently completed a memoir, The Hippie and the Marine: an American Journal.
Hailing from Ripton, Vermont, Ian is an extraordinary American, a thought leader and a global citizen.
Based on personal experience founding orphanages (OIWW), I know that the children of Kabul will learn much from him, just as he will continue to learn so much from them.
Related Stories by Jim Luce:
CharityHelp: An Electronic Bridge to Kids in Need (Huffington Post)
Orphans in Afghanistan Thrive Due To CharityHelp International (Daily Kos)
NBC's Brian Williams: Changing the World for the Better (Daily Kos)
Sundance Film Afghan Star Incredible (Huffington Post)
Andeisha Farid and the Orphaned Children of Afghanistan (Huffington Post)
Goldman Sachs Helps 10,000 Women, Including Andeisha Farid (Huffington Post)
Edited by Ethel Grodzins Romm.
