VIV Moments

Hometown

Bismarck, ND

Joie de VIVre

Discovering the backroads.

VIV Moment

In 1994, at age 19, I moved to Heidelberg, Germany, to experience life overseas — and stayed abroad for 10 years, living in Germany, Wales, France, and Lebanon.  When I eventually returned to American soil, I continued to travel overseas for work several months at a time, feeling disconnected, but eventually settling into mountain life in Breckenridge, CO, where I was a sports trainer and competitive mountain biker. Then, in the summer of 2006, I read Three Cups of Tea (now in paperback, Penguin Books, 2007), by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.  It’s the story of Mortenson’s failed attempt to climb K2 in Pakistan, and the subsequent quest to establish schools and promote girls’ education in remote mountain communities of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

During a conversation with a girlfriend, I got the idea of creating an organization that would help connect mountain communities to build schools in remote areas of the world. Literally overnight, Mountain to Mountain began. It was intended to support the work of Mortenson’s nonprofit, Central Asia Institute. (At around this same time, my daughter, Devon, was born, and my marriage of nine years ended.) But after two years of partnering with registered non-profits, I realized Mountain to Mountain needed to create its own projects and initiatives, and looked to take the giant leap towards Afghanistan.

I traveled to that country in November 2008 for a three-week scouting mission, bringing along photographer Tony Di Zinno to document what we saw, so we could share Afghanistan with people back home, connecting them on a deeper level to our mission. We documented visits to several schools, interviews with female parliamentary members and meeting with other nonprofits working in related fields.

Despite the foreign language, customs, women’s oppression, poverty and random violence and security issues, I felt comfortable almost the moment I stepped off the plane during that first visit. Even though I am reasonably confident and independent, there is always that feeling of holding back a part of who I really am — a sense that I should tone down my emotions, desires and expectations around others.

But that November in Kabul, that all changed. I felt calm stepping into uncharted waters of first-ever interviews taken with cabinet ministers to gain insight into the current state of education, women’s rights and Afghanistan’s politics.  While attending a buzkashi (the national sport, similar to polo) match with the president of the Afghan Olympic Buzkashi Federation — thanks to my well-connected translator — doubt didn’t enter into the decision to jump on a buzkashi horse when the challenge was thrown down by the president, despite being the only female around. Often without thinking, just the natural rhythm of being true to myself took over.

My VIV Moment occurred on the plane ride home when I realized I was ready to really commit to the role of founder and leader of Mountain to Mountain. I accepted that I do, in fact, want to “save the world.” After discovering that education has the potential to lead the way out of poverty, abuse and even conflict, I am determined to empower women and children in Afghanistan.

So far, the organization has created a computer lab at a girls’ secondary school in Kabul and another at Kabul University. Projects also are underway to improve and expand a literacy and education program in a women’s prison and to establish a headquarters for the Afghanistan National Association of the Deaf.

There are no rose-colored glasses when I look at Afghanistan. There is dirt and dust, squalor and poverty, gender inequality, corruption and crime. Yet I see the magical quality in this small corner of the world — a crossroads where diverse cultures and races intertwine. I want to inspire others to see beyond the war and terrorism, and see the amazing people working to change their own country’s path, the children that need schools and the artists that strive to keep Afghanistan’s culture alive.

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