I thought I’d give you a quick update on how things are for me in Pakistan. Well, I’m having a great time and really enjoying the teaching. The students are all very engaged, and the Pakistani’s reputation for hospitality is well deserved.
You will have noticed that there has been extensive reporting on the flooding in Pakistan. It is true that there has been devastation across the north of the country, but it has been very interesting to note how things are in the south. I am based in Hyderabad and have been to visit the Indus and the Kotri Barrage every few days, and whilst the water level has risen slightly, it’s nothing close to the previously highest recorded level, which was back in 1976. Even then, the water level would have to rise considerably (perhaps twice as much again) in order to actually flood the area. The military and civilian forces have been keen to react to the threat and the sight of lorries bearing loads of sandbags has become common.
The local and national press have been successful in keeping the tension levels high here – shops are clearing their ground floors and, naturally, it is the talk of the town. I have found it frustrating, however, to read that “the next 24 hours will be crucial” every day since I have arrived; in reality they are being over-precautious, and that’s to be expected. Speaking to a senior official, it is believed that there is actually very little risk to the area. There is, however, a real political value in keeping the tension high. Every day people flock to the river to see how things are; it has become quite the tourist attraction. According to widely distributed media reports, the region around Hyderabad has been ‘moderately affected’; I have not seen anything around the Kotri barrage to reflect this.
The international press has been successful in showing the scores of villages and communities ruined by the floods. What has not been reported is that the people of Pakistan – as much as Britain – have been quite happy to build on floodplains. In Hyderabad there are scores of houses and farms built illegally by the river, and planning laws preventing this are not enforced. These communities may soon become the scenes of desperation broadcast to the world. No-one is questioning whether people should have been living there in the first place. One cannot blame the people living here, but it is shameful that the local area is run in a way that allows people to be put in such danger. The underlying reason for this lies in the business that is foreign aid, only a fraction of which will ever reach those who you are seeing on TV. The Pakistani authorities know the value of the broadcast image of an elderly lady being rescued from a flood.
I can only comment on the areas that I’ve seen, and believe that further north there has been a very real disaster. It is equally a shame to see it exploited in other areas, and that the inability of the government to effectively provide alternatives to building in risky areas has not been recognised.

Barry Smith, production assistant on Tracing Tea part 1, is currently volunteering as an English language teacher in Hyderabad, Pakistan.

In my mind, Samarkand and Kashgar are the two great Silk Road cities. I went to Kashgar in 2008 and was sorely disappointed by the way the Chinese had flattened the city, consciously burying thousands of years of world history under strip malls, neon signs and mile after mile of concrete. It was therefore with some trepidation that I approached Samarkhand, not knowing if UNESCO had been able to hold back the ravages of time, cultural imperialism, and a chronic lack of taste.

The outskirts of Samarkand are not too promising. I bit my lip and kept my fingers crossed. As we came around the ring road, skirting fairly characterless blocks of flats and administrative buildings, the Registan popped into view across the rooftops. I let out a sigh of relief.

The origins of Samarkhand date back some 3000 years, but the most ancient parts were destroyed by Genghis Khan. The buildings we see today were built by his descendants between the 14th and 17th centuries AD. The so-called Timurid dynasty ruled an empire that stretched from Ankara to Delhi. Samarkand was their capital and, as such, a centre of patronage that drew the finest architects and artisans of the day. The superior quality of their work is clear in every dome, tile and tower.

We stayed in a guesthouse a stone’s throw away from the Guri Amir mausoleum (the tomb of Amir Timur, sometimes known as Tamerlaine). The house was built in a traditional style around a courtyard, with fruit trees to offer shade. From the bedroom door we could reach out and pluck fat, juicy cherries to eat. At breakfast, served at a communal table in a second white-washed courtyard, we devoured fresh bread, homemade mulberry and rose petal jams, pastries, potato cakes and crepes. It was a perfect start to each day.

Quite understandably, it is the Registan that attracts the most attention in Samarkand. This exquisite collection of mosques and madrassas (Islamic schools) is arranged dramatically on three sides of a square, with the archways of the principal buildings rising up imposingly. Although the buildings themselves are brick-built, every inch of their facades are richly tiled. The majority of the tile work features the geometric patterns typical on Islamic buildings, but there is one notable exception: there are two orange tigers staring down at you from the corner panels of the archway to the right.

My favourite discovery, however, is far less frequented. On the furthest edge of the city’s graveyard, having disturbed a few sleepy marmots and an occasional snake, we discovered a row of domed tombs, the earliest of which dates from the 1300s. The place is quiet – there wasn’t another tourist in sight – and so, as we walked, it felt timeless. The tiles were a combination of a deep royal blue and shades of turquoise, all with an immaculate sheen that caught the evening light. A solitary figure, possibly an Imam, appeared briefly, paused to look along the length of the paved avenue between the tombs, and then disappeared as suddenly as he had come. The last of the day’s light faded and we wandered home entranced.

Throughout our film shoot, TT has interviewed a large number of tea producers and tea drinkers. Thinking it was about time to fill in the gap in the chain, we went to see Cafe Direct, one of the organisations who enables small growers in the developing world to bring their products to market in the UK.

Cafe Direct was formed in 1991 when the international coffee market collapsed. Three south american coffee producers sent coffee to the UK on trust, and UK-based NGOs sold it on trust in church halls, community centres and other local outlets. The idea was to cut out the usual middle men in the supply chain, to ensure growers received a fair price for their coffee, and that consumers could drink a really high-quality product. The idea took off and, in the past 20 years, Cafe Direct has expanded its range to include tea and cocoa as well.

Tracing Tea met with Cafe Direct’s CEO, Anne MacCaig, at their head office in London. Anne was able to enlighten us about the organisation’s background and the principles that drive it forwards – in particular the importance given to the opinions of growers when deciding how funds are to be deployed.

Cafe Direct is a Fair Trade organisation but goes well-beyond FT’s minimum requirements of simply offering a fair price for the tea that is bought. Instead, the growers are themselves very much part of Cafe Direct’s structure, and the future sustainability of their industries is at the forefront of planning. It is not enough that the estates receive an economically sustainable price for their products – they must also be environmentally sustainable so that growers have a product to sell for many years to come.

We learned in particular about estates Cafe Direct works with in Africa where climate change has reduced tea production by 30%. Whatever price you are getting per kilo, this inevitable results in a huge drop in revenue. Cafe Direct is working with growers here to monitor and predict climate change and to develop strategies to minimise its impact on growers. This can be anything from trying new strains of plants, new watering and fertilising systems, to re-planting forest cover to preserve topsoil and nutrients.

One of the most exciting developments Anne told us about is that Cafe Direct’s estates in Rwanda, formed among war-torn communities, will soon be producing green tea for sale in the UK. This will be the first African green tea in production and will cater to the growing interest in green tea and health in Europe. Good Luck!

It is not every day that Gordon Brown looks out of his window at parliament and sees a hundred dancing tea ladies parading down the street. The ladies also surprised his wife at 10 Downing St, accosted early morning commuters on London Bridge and gave the tourists one for the photo album when they partied in Trafalgar Square.

Else you think that the capital has gone quite mad, I’d better explain what these fine ladies were up to. Two weeks each year are designated ‘Fair Trade Fortnight’ as the organisation tries to raise awareness of the importance of paying a fair price for consumer goods. This year’s product-in-focus was our beloved tea, and the tea ladies drank it by the gallon whilst looking beguiling and pursuading consumers to swap their regular cuppa for a fair trade cuppa. The tea ladies danced, chanted, posed for the cameras, and played volleyball with giant, inflatable cup of fair trade tea.

The tea ladies invasion on Feb. 25th was just one of the fortnight’s high-profile events. Community groups around the country hosted their own fair trade tea parties and tea dances. Tracing Tea attended the tea dance at Spitalfields Market and was privy to energetic performances of samba, ballroom dancing, bollywood dance and things we couldn’t even recognise. We were able to interview Mr Henriksen, a fair trade tea producer from the Nilgiri Hills in India, and to capture some of the action live on film.

Keep your eyes peeled for the tea ladies and their antics in Tracing Tea episode 8!

A cash for co-operation scheme to entice Taliban insurgents away from militancy, and a timeframe for the transfer of security control to Afghan forces were the centre pieces of ‘Afghanistan: The London Conference’ on January 28^th. President Karzai, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN, were joined by a delegation from the Afghan government and foreign policy representatives from the 43-nation security coalition. Together they committed $140 million to support the Afghan government’s Peace and Reintegration Programme, and announced that Afghan forces would take charge of the country’s security arrangements within the next five years.

An attempt to divide the majority of moderate Taliban from their extremist core, the reintegration programme will offer money and jobs to militants prepared to join peace talks and accept the Afghan constitution. Although reconciliation with the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is considered unlikely, other Taliban officials may well be brought to the table to discuss power sharing options, their previous war crimes and human rights violations put to one side in hope of bringing near-term stability.

The current courtship of Taliban fighters is a far cry from 2001 when the rescue of Afghanistan’s women from the terrors of Taliban rule was presented as the primary reason for invasion by foreign forces. Today, the Taliban are no longer the unquestioned enemies of democracy, western values and the Afghan people but, in President Karzai’s own words, “our disenchanted brothers”. The political rhetoric has changed and, say civil society groups, it is not for the better.   

“Reintegration cannot be the first step,” says Orzala Ashraf, founder of Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan and advisor to UNIFEM. “First we must negotiate, then reconcile, and only then can there be reintegration.”

Many groups fear that an amnesty for the Taliban will undermine people’s trust in the government as it contradicts their commitment to rule of law, a lynch-pin in their bid for legitimacy, and undermines the international community’s previous emphasis on the importance human rights. The policy will sit uncomfortably with those who feel an accountable, capable and responsible government in Kabul is Afghanistan’s best hope for long-term stability, and pressure will also be applied to the donor states by those questioning the logic of deploying troops against the Taliban at the same time as renting their loyalty. 

In what has been seen as a concrete step towards improved security, Gordon Brown  pledged support for the expansion of the Afghan National Army to 171,600 men by October 2011, and the eventual expansion of the national police force to 134,000.  Whether or not these forces will include former Taliban members brought in through the Peace and Reintegration Programme has not been publicly discussed. It is hoped that the increase in manpower, funded by the security coalition and trained by NATO forces, will enable the Afghan government to take control of national security by 2015. The hand-over of provinces could begin from as early as the end of this year, although President Karzai has hinted that Afghanistan may require foreign financial support for its security forces for as long as 15 years.

Brown’s description of the new policies as a “civilian surge” has not gone without criticism, however. A series of development-focused conferences has run alongside the main event in an attempt to compensate for the complete exclusion of women and civil society representatives from the main Afghan delegation. Much of the promised aid, including $1 billion from the US government, is to be deployed by military forces, muddying the line between military and humanitarian assistance. Eight international aid organisations including Oxfam, Action Aid and Afghan Aid, have raised concern that the military’s association with construction projects makes them a target for armed opposition groups, effectively putting civilian recipients of aid on the frontline of the conflict.

The message of the London Conference is clear: the international community will support the Afghan government with both funds and manpower, and believes that economic and humanitarian intervention must go hand in hand with military strategy if Afghanistan is to regain stability. The challenge comes, however, in balancing short-term security objectives and political interests with sustainable development, respect for the rule of law, and participatory democracy. If a path can be found that in the future enables the Afghan people to respect, trust and hold accountable a government capable of independently maintaining national security, adhering to principles of good governance and honouring its international obligations, we will know that ‘Afghanistan: The London Conference’ has been a slightly confused but ultimately positive step forward on the long road to peace and stability.

Sophie Ibbotson

Early February and our tea tastings are in full swing. Following a busy January which took us to Histon and Romsey we packed up our tea and headed out to Cambourne to meet the Engage in the Afternoon library group. On what was yet another miserable and bitterly cold day we were warmly welcomed by the group of regulars and a couple of curious visitors.

Housed in the impressive Sackville House building which also accommodates a health centre, the library is well positioned to serve the local community at large and the groups who use the centre as a social hub specifically.

Now, in the various venues we have visited I have never been faced with the luxury of a tea trolley. It’s time to spare a thought for me at this point. Whilst Megan gets to waltz into the room, chat with a friendly audience and enjoy a few cups of tea, I am busy behind the scenes brewing the tea, pouring hot liquid without injuring anybody before rushing back into the kitchen with my tea pot- thirsty work indeed! A tea trolley- what a marvellous invention!

Of course, the teas themselves were the subject of much debate. Many people were trying white tea for the first time and Makaibari Silver Tips (which still holds the record for the most expensive tea ever sold at auction) was a good introduction. However, much of our audience were eager to get on with the ‘proper (black) teas’ and a nice Makaibari Oolong did just the trick. For those with a taste for lighter teas the Glenburn First Flush Darjeeling was a winner, and many people had long forgotten their habit of taking their tea with milk and sugar by this point. However, the Lapsang Souchong brought the audience back to earth, many people vowing never to try smoked tea again and one gentleman declaring that it smelt exactly like diesel! Only Caroline, the library supervisor (and die hard tea fan) maintained that ‘big gulps’ were best- however the Engage members were not convinced and tentative sips prevailed!

It was a great afternoon, everyone learnt a lot and Margaret even took notes- causing Megan problems when she had to spell ‘Pu’erh’ tea.

Many thanks to all at the Cambourne Engage in the Afternoon group, particularly to Caroline Aldridge for all her help with organisation.

If you are interested in holding a tea tasting for your local group do get in touch: cath@maximumexposureproductions.com

Darkness falls and, seemingly from nowhere, fleets of vodka fuelled taxi drivers take to the streets with alarming speed and not a great deal of competency. If you decide to take to the pavements and walk, don’t dream of stepping out of the door without a torch – the street lamps are non-existent and the uncovered manholes pose a perilous threat even for the stone-cold sober. If you’re planning a night out on the town you have, unfortunately, to think ahead. Ending up giggling in a ditch at three in the morning is one thing at home, but quite another when the temperature has dropped to twenty or so below and the street dogs are licking their lips.

Health warnings aside, Bishkek is a surprisingly good place to party. Considerably cheaper than Almaty, its nearest cosmopolican neighbor, there are, nonetheless, several good places to drink. Every street corner has a vodka joint where you can drown your sorrows in something akin to paint stripper, and sweet Georgian champagne comes in at around $5 a bottle. If its atmosphere you’re after, you have a number of reasonable options. The Sky Bar (opposite Navigator on Razzakov) is the 11th story of a high-rise block and has an awesome view out over the city. The dance floor is fairly small but the Mojitos are good and there’s a reasonable sized crowd most nights of the week.

If you’re out to dance as much as to drink, it has to be the Bacardi Bar on Togolok Moldo, just back from Chui Prospekt (the main drag). Built to look like a circus tent, the club belts out the bass well into the early hours and there are two separate dancefloors, each with a different DJ. The club is owned by the Bakiyevs, family of the President, and so attracts the creme de la creme of Kyrgyz society, all trying to outdo each other in the fashion stakes. The club hosts regular theme nights, with the waiters and waitresses doing a nice line in 1930s gangster costumes. Drinks are expensive by Kyrgyz standards but, on the plus sides, are unlikely to poison you and are still considerably cheaper than their equivalents in London or New York.

Yesterday, Maximum Exposure Productions attended a high profile conference on Afghan Perspecitves on Development and Security. This was an opportunity for NGOs, charities and civil society representatives to send a message to the London Conference held tomorrow. The message was clear: radical change is needed in how aid is delivered.

Firstly, it has to be Afghan led and implemented – as David Loyn stated, summing up Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi’s address, “…[there is] capacity and talent enough if we have the bother to look for it”. There was a deep sense that to date aid has been delivered in the wrong way. That in the future aid has to be delivered by the need of the Afghan people in terms of humanitarian need and potential and opportunity for sustainable change – it cannot be driven just by strategic political and military objectives.

Secondly, poverty in Afghanistan is not being sufficiently dealt with. As the second poorest country in the world the situation is grave. However, representatives had hope. Dr Sarah Parkinson, from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, stated that insecurity was the main driver for poverty in Afghanistan. To deal with this, we have to look at the sources for this insecurity, not in the rhetoric of the international community, but the situation on the ground.

Thirdly, aid has to be invested in long term projects in order to foster stability and truly stimulate the Afghan economic system.

These three elements must be achieved whilst respecting women’s rights in Afghanistan, and no negotations should be agreed with the Taliban if they cannot respect the rights of women.

However there were reports of progress in terms of health (the country now has 11,000 clinics) and education (7 million students are at school, whilst 60,000 are at university).

In addition we have to learn from mistakes. Justice must not be sacrificed for peace - as Shinkai Karokhail, a member of the Afghan Parliament since 2006 remarked, “…[there can be] no peace without justice”. Corruption that permeates across the board in Afghanistan has to be stopped – accountability and transparency must be the order of the day.

With the security situation in Afghanistan worsening, we hope tomorrow’s conference will listen to what aid agencies have to say.

- Megan