The Street of Friends

The wall of peace

For those traveling to Antakya as tourists, journalists, or pilgrims, you might just stumble upon a little know place called the "Street of Friends", that is, if you can find it. Nestled in Antakya's old city, the Street of Friends is run by Sister Barbara, who provides a serene environment for pilgrims, travelers, wanderers, and searchers. The adjoining buildings with old, heavy wooden doors, stone courtyards center-pieced with orange trees, is the vertex for two buildings of faith: on one side of the wall, a Catholic Church, on the other side, a Mosque.

To commemorate the joining of these two buildings of faith, Sister Barbara built a modest chapel in the main building; a sort of symbol of harmony. The chapel house itself, is a cool and dark stone room illuminated by three windows containing a shrine to the three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The floor, furbished with prayer rugs, leads down the room to a quilted Wish Tree, popular in the Alawite religion for prayer, with the sidewall decorated by dozens of plaques expressing different words for peace.   

"We dare to pray for peace," Sister Barbara spoke to the people congregating in the chapel house. And after a brief pause for silent prayer, she picked up her guitar and said, "Now, let us sing."

German pilgrim in front of the Wish Tree

Easter on the Syrian Border

Benediction before the midnight mass

This weekend marks one of the largest holiday for the Christian faith, Easter. The ancient city of Antioch, currently known as Antakya, has always been a major hub for Catholic, and Orthodox Christians alike, as the city holds one of the first five churches of early Christendom. It was here that St. Paul began his missionary journeys, allowing the city to claim the “world's first cathedral”, and where religious followers of Jesus Christ were first recorded as being called “Christians".

Antakya is the main town in Hatay that reaches out to the rural border villages.  It has always been a city of mixed culture: Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Arabs, and Turks. Since the start of the Syrian civil war, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, both Muslim, and Christian, have crossed over into Hatay.  On Good Friday, in the middle of the church's stone courtyard and surrounded by fruiting orange trees, Father Dominic talked about the changes the Syrian war has created for the Catholic congregation in Antakya.

Father Dominic leading a procession to the church

"Many Syrian Christians already have relatives here in Antioch.” He explained, “It's hard to say how many new people have joined this church, not everyone comes on a regular basis, but it is still noticeably bigger. A lot [of people] left for fear of religious persecution; so many people just practice their faith at home with their families while they wait to relocate to Europe."

Two hundred and eighty kilometers (175 miles) east of Antakya is the city of Homs, Syria. Once home to tens of thousands Christians, the city’s Christian population has now shrunk to less than 100 due to the war and radical Islamic organizations who target Christians. The most notable of these religious killings is the recent assassination of the 75 year old Jesuit Dutch priest, Frans van der Lugt, was widely known for staying in the besieged city of Homs, while constantly calling for humanitarian aid and working for peace before he was dragged from his home last week and shot twice in the head by an unknown gunman.

Prayer, and song inside the church

"Here in Turkey, we are safe," Father Dominic told me, "Over there [in Syria] there are many people who only care about who you are: Christian, Shia, Sunni, Alawite. Many people say they are faithful, but do not act as their religions tells them to. They have a black and white mentality. Here in Turkey, there is tension between people, yes, but there is still no violence. Here, we are safe."

Lighting of the candles

In the midsts of hymns 

Good Friday in Antioch

The Father, and a layman

A layman in prayer

Syrian Pirate Radio

Sout Raya's symbol - a map of Syria depicting zones controlled by military groups

Istanbul, Turkey - Sout Raya radio, a Syrian pirate radio station run by a collective of Syrian journalists-turned-exiles, broadcast a variety of shows directly into Syria from their station in Istanbul, Turkey. Initiated in 2012 by co-founders Firas Fayyad, and Aliser Hasan, Sout Raya (Sound of the Flag) radio has evolved to become a full-time station covering a wide range of topics for Syrians still inside Syria, including musical performances, child education programs, in-depth interviews with notable speakers, history, culture, real-time reports on situations inside Syria, and discussions regarding the ever looming question, what form of government will Syria have when the civil war eventually ends?

Firas Fayyad, a 30 year old documentary film maker, activist, and proud new father of a beautiful daughter, lived in Damascus during the start of Syria's Arab Spring revolution in 2011. As anti-government protests quickly slipped out of control, and into a full scale civil war, Firas was one of the first journalists on the ground covering the conflict. His documentary film "On the Other Side" brought him international acclaim, but as he continued to document the fate of his country, he was arrested by Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad's government. 

Journalists in the sound proof room recording a show for broadcasting

Yet, even after being beaten, and tortured by government forces, Firas continued his work documenting the war. That was, until his second arrest by government troops. For 6 months he was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured by electric shocks from a car battery. After his second release, Firas, still determined to continue his work as a journalist, knew he would no longer be safe working in his own country. Fleeing Syria through the south, via Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp, he eventually relocating to Istanbul, Turkey. 

It was here that he connected with Aliser Hasan, the current manager for the station, whose connections with NGOs, and a rich Syrian businessman, brought about the foundation of Sout Raya radio, in 2012. Located in the middle of a financial district in Istanbul, the station has all the professional equipment needed to produce quality programs. The studio itself, is spacious with hardwood floors, beige tiled walls, individual work stations for each department (two sound proof rooms for live broadcasts, news production, music composition, sound mixing, media coordination, a kitchen, and a meeting room with two mat beds tucked away in the corner for journalists to sleep during all night projects). Approaching their two year mark as a station, Sout Raya has a paid staff of 10 journalists working at the Istanbul station, and 14 journalists reporting secretly from various locations within Syria. 

The majority of the station's funding, which is budgeted at $15,000 USD per month, comes directly from a wealthy Syrian benefactor, but a notable portion of funds are coming from various NGOs, predominantly based in western nations. Firas, and the other journalists (whose names will be intentionally concealed for their security) insist they have not received any pressure from NGOs to produce biased reports, (although some reports claim NGOs act as a third party conduit for western government funds). However, all the working journalists personally oppose Assad's regime, regardless of the ultimate source of "no-strings-attached" funds. 

Audio mixing for a broadcast in one of the recording rooms

"Most of our programs are not about the war," a Sout Raya journalist explained. "Our shows focus more on history, culture, welfare, and education. The war is destroying these things, and we need to make sure these important issues are not forgotten".  

Of course, much of their work is not without personal cost. Every journalist for Sout Raya has faced some form of repercussion for their work: arrests, torture, death threats, imprisonment, and so on. In the past, Sout Raya's radio transmitter has been stolen, and destroyed by the Islamic jihadist organization ISIL / ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant/Syria). Many of the journalists working in Istanbul still have family inside of Syria, creating a serious danger if those journalist's families are discovered.

"There is always a moment of being scared every time my phone rings with a Syrian number." Feris told me, gazing at his phone as we sat around the kitchen table over a cup of Nescafe. "Is this going to be the call saying that one of our families has been kidnapped, or killed? After we answer the phone, and we hear them say, 'Hello. How are you?', we can relax, but every time my phone rings, my heart pounds, and races."

Syrian musician creating a score for a program in the music composition room

The Syrian civil war is now entering its fourth year. With a death toll so difficult to confirm, the United Nations has ceased counting the dead. Yet, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that over 150,000 people have been killed in the war, including civilians, fighters for various rebel groups, and the Syrian army. UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) also confirmed that over one million Syrian refugees fled into the neighboring nation of Lebanon, with similar figures being seen in Turkey, and Jordan alike. In their most recent report, the UNHRC called the ongoing refugee crisis a "devastating milestone for a host community stretched to breaking point". 

In Syria, currently the world's largest humanitarian crisis, there is no end in sight to this war. For Feris, and all of the journalists for Sout Raya radio, their work is never ending, and will continue until a solution is forged, one way or another.

"We want to create unity," Feris explains. "We need news about things that are beyond death counts. We will continue to work for peace, even when the war is over. Syria is our country, our home, and we [the Syrian people] will need to heal after the war".

"We will return to Syria," he went on, after a pause. "Everyone will have to continue with their lives. I will make my life's work through films, and try to find a way to heal my country. When there is peace, we hope to expand the radio station, and create Sout Raya TV in Syria".

"We dream of freedom, and will achieve just that" he said with confidence. "It will not be easy, but it is not impossible".

A kitchen discussion about future governance

The Red Wedding

How could I miss my chance to title this photograph after George R.R. Martin's infamous 'Red Wedding'?

For those of you who don't know me personally, I have a strong passion for history, and the medieval era. So, when I photographed this Kurdish wedding outside of Istanbul's famous Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), I couldn't help but think of a witty title related to the 'Game of Thrones' series, which has captivated a world-wide audience with this weeks debut of the show's fourth season.

A Kurdish wedding outside of Istanbul's Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque)

Ankara Protests Against Electoral Corruption

Ankara, Turkey - On March 30th, Turkey entered into its municipal elections. While the current Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, and his ruling party, AKP, is set to maintain power across Turkey, there has been strong opposition against AKP for electoral corruption.

Protesters stand their ground against police water cannons

On the day of the election, the key cities of Istanbul, and Ankara, which had less than a 1% vote gap, suddenly faced electrical problems, making it so votes could not be counted. Government officials have cited that this electrical problem was due to a stray cat disrupting the transformer. The half-hearted reason for a cat disrupting an extremely close, and important election is already doubtable, but now AKP has claimed an electoral victory, and cut off citizen's ability to track the vote counting online, claiming it necessary for national security.

Since Sunday's elections, AKP opposition groups are personally taking part in the recounting of votes, and have noticing a numerical difference compared to what AKP reported when claiming their victory. Supporters of CHP, Turkey's oldest political party established by Ataturk, are gathering in the streets outside of Ankara's election authority building, protesting against electoral fraud.

CHP supporters protest against electoral corruption in front of the ballot office 

Prime Minister Erdogan, and Ankara's AKP ruling mayor for 20 years, Melih Gökçek, states that there will be no patience for protesters to dispute the elections, and dispatched Ankara's riot police to disband the demonstrators by using water cannons, and tear gas.

As water trucks, and riot police approach the protesters, the crowd begins to chant slogans, sing the national anthem, say homophobic remarks about AKP politicians, and wave to the line of police shouting, "Come! Come! Come!"

Parents bring their children to expose them to political movements early on 

After some time, the police did just that. Charging down the street towards the crowd, protesters break off into smaller groups, taking side streets which begin a block by block skirmish while trying to avoid being hit by the water cannons from the trucks driving up, and down the streets.

"Our government, and our Prime Minister stole our election" Ahmet Gezer, a CHP protester told me. "Mussolini, Franco, Bush, Erdogan, they are all the same. They are fascists who only want war. The only reason a government attacks its own people during a peaceful protest is because they know they have cheated us, and are afraid of the power of their own people."

Whistles are commonly used to keep up the protester's spirits

Opposition protesters return after a water cannon attack

It is difficult to speculate what will happen in the coming days for Turkey's political parties. Even now, there is growing dissent amongst CHP's opposition members. As of last night, a call was put out online for the youth, and young adults in support of CHP to occupy their own facilities in attempts to throw out some of their leading politicians, who many young adults feel are not doing enough to challenge the corruption of this election.

Hand signs of the 'Grey Wolf'- an age old Turkish symbol of civil protest & power

Singing Turkey's national anthem

Turkish Elections, 2014

With national elections taking place this week in Turkey, Istanbul swells yet again with mass demonstrations for all the various political parties. There are some 30 political parties throughout the country, yet most are so small in number they don't stand much of a chance competing with the current ruling party, the center-right AKP (Justice and Development Party). Because of this, many minor parties join together in order to bolster their demonstration size.

Naturally, major media networks mostly cover the Prime Minister's rallies, which were a million strong this week, so I decided to focus on the less covered demonstrations instead. The Kurdish National Party (HDP) and their gorilla army, the P.K.K., is the strongest of the groups, but there were still other parties present: socialist, communist, anarchists, and a very minor gay coalition.

Young adults supporting the Kurdish party

Supporter of the P.K.K. - The Kurdish Gorilla Army

Green, red, and yellow are the Kurdish national colors

The demonstration

The Khasi Hills Unitarian Child Orphanage

Unitarian boy peering through the window.

After four days straight of traveling and sleeping on the floors of various train and bus terminals I finally arrived in the Khasi Hills of India's NE state, Meghalaya. Known as the Scottish highlands of Asia the Khasi Hills are just that; rolling hills of dried grass and barren rock, whipping wind and a thick fog.

Two years ago during my time as a camp counselor for Unitarian Universalist youth, a friend of mine mentioned a small Unitarian congregation somewhere in India. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal, all inclusive, non-denominational faith that teaches the morals of all faiths (without the dogma) while pushing for social change such as immigration and LGBTQ rights, and Unitarianism is it’s grandfather religion not commonly seen today. During one of my most recent projects in Varanasi I remembered this conversation and began looking around for contacts with hopes of finding the location of this community. One week later, through a series of emails from multiple contacts, I was introduced to a delightful man named Nangroi, who invited me to stay in his village and with the local Unitarian congregation of over 10,000 individuals.

Three 'brothers' eating lunch together.

Visiting each beautifully modest church house of the village allowed for discussion of hardships with the local, predominantly farmer population. With Nangroi and his wonderful family helping as translators I was informed about the rural difficulties of crop prices, medical aid and literacy.

Potatoes, the regional cash crop grown, yield a meager value when brought to market. The flooding of this mono-crop in the market place makes it very hard for families to raise their income and better their standard of living. Due to the rural location of the Unitarians in the Khasi Hills, medical aid rarely makes its way to the villages, forcing people to travel several hours to a hospital in the nearest city. With most families numbering from 5-10 people per household, it becomes a struggle to support everyone with their usual salary, which is equivalent to $400-$500(USD) per month.

Boy trying to find space away from the other children.

At the edge of Kharang village I was shown the Unitarian Child Orphanage for the Khasi Hills. Approaching the door I was introduced to each child with a bashful handshake and a lively, English, “How do you do?” The Unitarian Child Orphanage, currently housing 20 children (10 boys and 10 girls) ranging from ages 6-15 rests on a several acre plot with forested hills, jungle paths, small creeks and little pools. With a simple terrace garden, worm compost bin and their own personal water pump, Nangroi and other members of the UUNEI (Unitarian Union of North East India) hope to eventually raise enough money to build a health care center, school, community fishery and edible jungle garden to help with fresh fruit and medicinal herbs.

Dinner time in the kitchen.

Usually each child travels to the nearest school house each weekday but as I was lucky enough to visit during a winter break we were able to spend our time climbing through the forest, playing tag or getting in some quality fun on the swing and slide in the playground. Around meal time the older of the children who have been delegated more responsibility would join the two 'mothers’ of the house, helping prepare the main meal of rice and potatoes. After clean up play-time continued into the night and when the electricity would cut out the darkness would be filled with giggles and flickering candle light as play-time would scurry through the dark. After reading English books by candle, group songs and rhymes were sung before the nightly Earth, Wind & Fire dance party.

Learning to read English by candle light.

After such a long time on the road documenting poverty and child desperation it was such a wonderful time getting to know these brilliant youth. Even though each of them has lost at least one parent and still deal with emotional swings from pain it is a beautiful thing to see each of them come together to support one another and create an even larger family.

To the children at the Khasi Hills Unitarian Child Orphanage, thanks for making me a friend and teaching me to play Cricket; I promise I’ll do better next time.

Woman watching a storm fall outside the kitchen window.

Still Wandering Uttar Pradesh

I'm continuing with my work around the rural communities in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. As mentioned in my previous post I'm trying to observe and document the myriad of societal struggles facing these isolated villages without holding a targeted agenda. As I witness the many issues that have presented themselves to me I decided to use this weeks article to shed a little light on the overbearing hardships of starvation, medical illnesses, unemployment and poverty.

Man napping through the day due to unemployment - Mahoba.

A hungry woman pleading for help - Balidi Kala village.

A little girl caring for her dying sister - Balidi Kala village.

Child waiting in a field - Swati Bruara village.

Girl playing outside her home - Itwanduendaila village.

Wandering Uttar Pradesh

I'm often asked how I decide where to travel and which stories to cover. My response usually refers back to a conversation I had with another humanitarian photojournalist Zoriah Miller. We discussed that it is sometimes essential to enter a region without seeking a specific story or having a targeted agenda. We both agree that if a photographer or journalist has their focus fixed on a specific story than such a narrow view can marginalize or obscure an equally important social justice issues being played out right in front of them.

Most recently, this question of how I go about my work was posed to me by a reporter for the Hindustan Times. It was then that I checked in with myself only to realized that for the past four months I had been traveling in search of a specific story. Realizing this, I decided to cancel the story that I was traveling toward and got off at the next train stop. The following week was spent wandering among rural villages in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Not knowing what I would find, I decided to observe the societal struggles caused by hunger, poverty, and a lack of education and clean drinking water which effects everyday life in these secluded regions.

Man struggling against hunger - Ramtikawa village.

A man worried about low crop prices - Nadin Kurmiyan village.

Mother holding her child - Ramtikawa village.

A family gathered outside of their home - Soti Kaprawa village.

Varanasi

The city of Varanasi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is considered by Hindus a holy place because of its connection with the sacred Ganges river. Even with the extremely dense urbanization of the city, religious icons and shrines still dot almost every other street corner and alleyway. Commuting along the ghats beside the river bank, I decided to dedicate an article to the temple keepers, holy men, and ceremonial performers. For it is these lay Hindu men who provide spiritually vital functions for their Hindu community as they lead public prayers, family pujas, and provide the blessings for the dead waiting to be cremated by the holy river.

Man performing a nightly puja.

A group of holy men reciting mantras.

A crowd begging for food blessings.

A Baba blessing people along the river bank.

Nightly fire ceremony along the Ganges river.
Temple keeper painting a shrine dedicated to Shiva.

Sadhus

Sadhus can often be seen as Hindu ascetics found throughout India. These men and woman who follow the holy Hindu scriptures, sometimes aligned with a specific god, abandon a life of material possessions and creature comforts with the goal of obtaining nirvana through suffering.

I believe the Muslim Sufi poet Latif describes them best when saying, “Yogis are many, but I love these wandering Sadhus. Smeared with dust, they eat little, never saving a grain of rice in their begging bowls. No food in their packs, they carry only hunger. No desire to eat have they. Thirst they pour and drink. These ascetics have conquered their desires. In their wilderness they found the destination from which they searched so long.”

Sadhu outside of a rural village shrine - Uttar Pradesh.

Sadhu in prayer - Varanasi.

Sadhu sitting next to his campfire alter - Haridwar.