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December 10, 2004
Reunion
Recently I had the opportunity to see two of the Iranians who were in my documentary, "From Idaho to Iran." Dr. Hamid Taravati and Dr. Farzaneh Bahar are environmentalists from the city of Masshad, in northeastern Iran. They are experts in family planning issues, and also have a non-governmental organization which encourages people to plant trees.
Both were in Washington, DC, to attend a meeting of the Environmental Policy Institute, on whose board Hamid sits. He and his wife then went to Arcata, California to visit an old friend of theirs, Frederica Aalto, who represents Six Rivers Planned Parenthood in various international capacities. She and Farzaneh had met at the Beijing Women's conference.
Frederica organized a gathering at which Farzaneh and Hamid spoke, and a portion of my documentary was shown. It was truly moving to be able to see my friends again and hear them speak to an American audience about the problems that overpopulation has caused in Iran, and the resulting innovations in family planning that have occurred in that country. We all learned from listening to them. I also got to meet several of the members of the small Iranian community on California's north coast.
Here is an article about the event.
It never ceases to amaze me how the world has been connected through the internet. Although we continue to have political and military conflicts with other countries, with perseverance, people around the world can continue to connect
Posted by MJF at December 10, 2004 10:33 PM