Posts Archives - Susan M Hall

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February 11, 2011 by Susan M Hall

Haitian Agents Advocate for Victims of Gender Based Violence

Haitian agents advocate for victims of gender-based violence in twenty-two tent camps in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Agents provide medical accompaniment, as well as, referrals for legal assistance and psychological support.

Imagine that you go to the police department to file a complaint for rape, and the police officer, because you are unable to identify the perpetrator, refuses to make a report.

Jayne Fleming is a San Francisco-based human rights attorney who is preparing and filing humanitarian parole and political asylum applications for sixty Haitian victims of gender-based violence.

Many of Fleming’s clients are referrals from KOFAVIV and FAVILEK agents who advocate for victims in twenty-two tent camps in Port-au-Prince. The agents provide services including accompaniment and referrals for legal assistance, psycho-social support, and medical care.

One recent afternoon Fleming received a phone call from a KOFAVIV agent requesting $20. for transportation for a victim to the Bureau des Avocats (BAI) where she was conducting interviews with clients. Several hours later the woman arrived in a tap tap with her two teenage sons. The 45-year-old mother had tried to protect her teenage daughter from a group of attackers. The daughter escaped. The angry men turned on the mother. The victim was brutally beaten and gang-raped.

The troubling reality is that there is simply not enough legal capacity to advocate for all of the victims. When this mother is released from the hospital she will return to the tent camps. With no rule of law, legal consequences, or police protection the rapes and sexual violence will continue unabated.

KOFAVIV (The Commission of Women Victims for Victims) and FAVILEK (Women Victims Get Up, Stand Up) are grassroots women’s organizations established by and for rape survivors of the military coup d’etat against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 and 2004, which resulted in widespread rape of women by soldiers and police.

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November 2, 2008 by Susan M Hall

Obama 2008 Campaign Rally Scranton Pennsylvania

University of Scranton students rally for presidential candidate Barack Obama outside the John McCain “Road to Victory” event in Scranton, PA, USA, November 2, 2008.

Barack Obama counter-rally Scranton Pennsylvania 2008

“Vote Obama-Biden November 4th”. Barack Obama supporters hold a counter-rally outside the John McCain “Road to Victory” rally at the John Long Center, The University of Scranton, Sunday, November 2nd, 2008.

University of Scranton students pose for a selfie outside of Senator John McCain’s Road to Victory Rally in Scranton, PA, USA.

Vote for Change, Election Day Tuesday, November 4th.

Barack Obama rally Scranton Pennsylvania 2008

Obama 2008 Campaign Rally, Scranton, Pennsylvania.

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October 31, 2008 by Susan M Hall

“Road to Victory” Rally Sarah Palin

2008 Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin rallies the crowd at the “Victory in Pennsylvania” campaign stop, Bowman Field, Williamsport, PA, USA. The “Road to Victory” rally is a nationwide series of campaign events headlined by VP nominee Sarah Palin during the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Sarah and Todd Palin campaign at the “Victory in Pennsylvania” Rally, Bowman Field, Williamsport, PA, USA, October 31, 2008.

Sarah Palin rally Halloween York Pennsylvania

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin hosts a Halloween night rally in York, PA, USA.

Todd Palin greets supporters at the October 31, 2008, rally in York, PA.

Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, signs autographs at a rally at the York Expo Center Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 in York, Pa.

Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, signs autographs at a rally at the York Expo Center Friday, October 31, 2008, in Pennsylvania.

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May 31, 2007 by Susan M Hall

Aschiana Art Students Take a Field Trip to Band-e Qargha Lake

In 2007, I visited Aschiana at the invitation of an acquaintance who was volunteering as an English teacher. Students created oil paintings and watercolors by copying images from postcards and photographs. Most of the students had never been outside of their neighborhood, let alone Kabul. My friend Sandra and I decided to organize a ‘field trip.’ We rented two Pakistani buses for the bargain price of fifty dollars. We purchased a new supply of pencils, sharpeners, paintbrushes, paper, and Russian watercolors from the local stationery store. Two days later, forty-four students set off on a hastily organized field trip to Band-e Qargha Lake. After students got bored with painting, they skipped rocks into the lake; a universal pastime enjoyed by children and teens across the globe.

Three Afghan boys interior Pakistani bus

Bande Qargha Lake with ice capped mountains in the background.

Afghan men cook kebabs on a grill at Bande Qargha.

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March 31, 2005 by Susan M Hall

Greetings from Afghanistan

Kabul is a city of hustle and bustle. There are few paved roads and no traffic lanes, intersections, or traffic lights. Livestock including sheep, goats, and camels weave in and out of traffic consisting mostly of old Toyota Corolla Sedans converted to taxicabs while young men in jeans talk on cell phones. It is a cacophony of traditional and modernity.

Deminers search landmines Kabul Afghanistan

Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR). De-miners search for land mines on the outskirts of Kabul.

A technician creates a prosthesis at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rehabilitation center in Kabul.

Carpet weavers pose for a picture outside of factory in Kabul.

Carpet weavers pose for a photo outside a carpet factory in Kabul.

Afghans4Tomorrow girls’ school. During the five years from 1996-2001, when the Taliban were in power, girls in Afghanistan were not allowed to attend school. Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001, girls resumed their education.

English Lesson. Students study three languages at the Afghans4Tomorrow schools: Dari, Pashto, and English, as well as the “Quran,” the Holy Book of Islam, which is written in Arabic.

Afghanistan has been at war for over a quarter of a century. The future of the country depends on education and literacy for boys, as well as girls.

Children bring “naan” from the neighborhood bakery in Kabul.

“Naan” (flat bread) is a staple of the Afghan diet.

Baghe Zanana Womens Garden Kabul Afghanistan

Kabul’s Baghe Zanana (commonly known as the Women’s Garden).