"From somewhere in the valley below us comes the sound of drums. I recall the time I spent in the central plateau (Haiti) with the American soldiers, and I remember the sound of Voodoo drums wafting into the army barracks in Mirebalais at night and how unsettling it was to some of us sitting there in all it's mystery. I'm sure we'd have felt different if we'd known we were probably hearing ceremonies to cure the sick. For myself, right now, I like the sound, like so many hearts beating through a single stethoscope."
–Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains Beyond Mountains
I finished reading Mountains Beyond Mountains in an airport bar in Newark, NJ while waiting for my flight to Tel Aviv. The book tells the the heroic tale of Paul Farmer's public health developments in the third world. Farmer's affirmed my belief that truly anything is possible...
I now embark on an ethnographic music and peace mission in the middle east. I will be living in Jerusalem and working with a non-profit organization called Heartbeat Jerusalem. The organization works to empower young Israeli and Palestinian musicians by creating opportunities and spaces for musicians from both sides to work together, hear each other, and amplify their voices to influence the world around them. I will also be doing an independent study and documentation of artists who are expressing their desire for change through various creative mediums. And yes, I plan to play and absorb as much music as possible. Here we go now, here we go now, here we go now!
Shalom-Salam,
Avi
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