On the Eve of Independence Day: One week in

It’s actually quite difficult to live on a Maldivian-inhabited island, and getting through customs, I had a to make a few phone calls to prove I was indeed invited into a Maldivian home. Thankfully Zaheena Rasheed, a Maldivian student from Middlebury, was there to pick me up and get me safely to home. Zaheena is currently interning at the President’s office working with International Media – and has been an invaluable resource!

I find myself blessed to have landed in a welcoming host family. Alexa, Muku, Thanzy and their friends are not only well-versed in Maldivian issues and politics, they are extremely helpful and have really taken an interest in my project – connecting me with many of their friends. Alexa is from the UK and worked as a VSO volunteer on one of the northern atolls - her friend Bea, also a volunteer with her, was visiting, so it’s been great to hear their advice and about their experiences. Muku and Thanzy are from Male’ and have been involved in business, politics, and activism. They are currently very busy releasing Maldives’ first Discount Book. Last night we drove around Male’ pinning up billboards in the rain.

I’m staying on Villingili, a small, quiet island just 7 minutes by ferry from bustling Male’. Its wide streets are shaded by a canopy of tall, leafy trees, and an assemblage of hammock chairs and wooden swings dot the various courtyards and beach perimeter. On the beach near my apartment, fishermen moor their boats, called dhonis. In the center, a sandy football pitch lined with soaring coconut palms is heavy with foot traffic. I can see the beach from my window. I’m still acclimatizing to the heat (high 90s) and find myself waking in a start each morning with the call of prayer at 4:30 a.m. (The call of prayer is 5x a day, but in the morning a line is added: It is better to pray than sleep).

Male’ – an island whose circumference I have walked in just over 40 minutes, is home to 130,000 people – 70,000 of which are foreign workers. For good reason, at 1.5 square kilometers, Male has been deemed one of the most crowded places in the world. Navigating the narrow streets are over 600 taxis (not including personal cars) – and, as the Environmental Minister joked in a recent speech – there must be at least 20 motorbikes per taxi.

This past week I’ve spent orienting myself to Villingili and Male’ – wandering around the fish and vegetable markets, swimming every day, losing myself in the busy capital. The café scene here is almost entirely dominated by males, and so as a tall American woman, I make quite the spectacle. Everyone is very kind, and with what little Dhivehi I’ve armed myself with, I’ve found people very accommodating. Sarah Harris, another Middlebury student, is also here working on a Face of Democracy project with Zaheena. It's been great to see her!

350.org, a climate change campaign founded in the mountains of Vermont by Bill McKibben and several Midd grads – the same team who organized Step it Up in 2007, was here in Maldives for the first 3 days of my stay. Bill was here with his daughter Sophie publicizing the 350 campaign – rallying governments and organizations across the world to commit to reducing carbon emissions to 350 carbon dioxide parts per million in the atmosphere, a number which is sited as a threshold at which we can enjoy a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.” Currently the world stands at 390 parts per million - causing melting of the polar ice caps and sea level rise. So setting a benchmark and engaging in demonstrations on October 24th of this year (six weeks before the world’s leaders descend on Copenhagen to reach an agreement on a new climate treaty) – is crucial. The President has agreed to sign onto the 350 campaign and to hold an underwater demonstration off of the coral reefs.

I’ve been meeting with a lot of different people – Absy, the head of the Faculty of Arts at the Teacher’s College, Nashath, a member of the Human Rights Commission. I spent some time at the National Museum, the National Arts Gallery, and the National Library doing some research and making some contacts.

I met with two members of BluePeace, the oldest environmental organization in Maldives, about putting together an exhibit at the National Gallery with local photographers on the face of climate change. In the past 5 years, foreign journalists from all over the world have been jostling to tell the story of climate change here on Maldives. As they explained, to date no Maldivian documentary has been released. I’m hoping to collaborate in producing some stories and leading some audio workshops. Our goal is to have a traveling exhibition. They’ve invited me to join them on a visit to a remote island in Lammu atoll later this month to do an audio-photo story on turtle preservation and local opinion at the full moon. All very exciting!!

In other news…I’m hoping to take a few basic Dhivehi lessons in the coming weeks. I’m hoping to teach a journalism workshop and help with designing the curriculum for the new Journalism department with Absy. On Friday night I met with a woman and her husband regarding her folklore dissertation she’s beginning -- superstitions and black magic beliefs on the different atolls, a topic about which very little has been written in Dhivehi or English.

I’m to meet with Mauroof Khaleel, the president's photographer, sometime this week and have my first interview scheduled for Saturday, with Mohammed Hussein, a former seaman, who after 20 years away, just returned to Maldives to take up work as a taxi driver.

I’ve been struggling to define my project, but everyone I meet has gone out of their way to help me. Citizen stories are certainly a foreign concept here. Storytelling is a very loaded word – one I’ve found often conjures folklore and mysticism. I’m also quickly realizing just how daunting a population of 130,000 can be. How can I listen to the issues, gather stories that reflect the complexities of Male’ and Maldives’ society without casting a general, or skewed view, how can I navigate my own outsider status?

For now, I’m going to continue making connections and remembering that first and foremost I am here to learn. By way of Alexa and Muku I will try and meet with someone from Voice of Maldives, one of the major radio stations in Maldives, and the Dhivehi Language Institute and Historical Society. I’m supposed to meet with Shafeeq, an elderly historian and an expert in ancient history. Supposedly there’s a Frenchman living on Villingili who arrived in the mid-70s, built a traditional dhoni and sailed it all thorugh the atolls and has lived here ever since.

Sunday is the Independence Day, and apparently this year Nasheed is going to change things up, so we should be due for a pretty incredible celebration – lots of music, lots of dancing, and floats. It’s also my Mom’s birthday! Happy Birthday Mom!