First Impressions of The Carter Center & Atlanta

Founded in 1982 by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, The Carter Center (TCC) occupies 37 acres in the heart of Atlanta, housing offices, a library, a museum, and (of course) a performance stage. When I arrived here one week ago - my first time in Atlanta - it struck me within moments that TCC is a rarity in the middle of this urban center wrestling with diversity and economic development. The flowering grounds of The Center feel almost like a sanctuary, but TCC operates field offices in some of the most dilapidated places around the world.

I don’t quite know what to make of this juxtaposition. Why would I get to go to work in a safe, secure building, using a computer with high-speed internet access to write reports on a post-conflict country that ranks 169^th out of 182 countries according to the Human Development Index? I guess this is really just a re-positioning of the same question that was posed to me two years ago when I first set foot in Rwanda…Why does a 16 year-old boy with malaria become the head of a household of self-taught hip hop orphans, while kids in Philadelphia drive to dance schools in their cars and sport new dance wear everyday? I know it’s possible to build that bridge to connect our disparate worlds, but I don’t know how to do it.

And that’s why I am here in Atlanta. If the TCC can do such a marvelous job of this work through their programs, how do artists achieve the same? How does creative capital get leveraged in a way that produces economic gain for the people in other countries? I am optimistic that this experience will help me understand more of this puzzle.

DAY ONE at The Carter Center…The Bolshoi and Liberia

Was it coincidental that the Bolshoi Ballet Academy of Russia was on the cover of the New York Times on the same day that I started scanning the paper for Liberia articles? However as much as I will always hail Agrippina Vaganova as the goddess of ballet, the content of the Liberia article was qualitatively (and I believe factually) superior.

Intern orientation was most enlightening. For instance, I learned that interns should always make office coffee and never wear sneakers when meeting with the former President. (Glad I took notes as this really contradicts common sense.) Then, I was introduced to the staff for my specific program, which is the Conflict Resolution division of the Peace Programs at TCC. My focus area is to be Liberia. (And no, Rebecca Davis Dance Company is not planning to do a new choreographic work on Charles Taylor, nor will we ever for that matter.) Tom Crick is the Associate Director and Robert Pitman is the Program Associate. Within a few minutes, it was very clear to me that I am going to learn an unbelievable amount from these two individuals - ranging from the specifics of integrating and expanding formal and customary judicial systems, to the general methods of working vertically and horizontally in an organization of 150 employees. Beyond that, I have the good fortune of working alongside an exceptionally intelligent and delightful fellow intern, Courtney Rusin.

So after this positive moment and feeling of exhilaration of what the next ten weeks of my life might bring, the more important question hit me: what on earth do I know about Liberia?

WEEK ONE: Learning About Liberia

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in Accra finally brought an end to Liberia’s civil war in 2003. Since its outbreak in 1989, the war resulted in 250,000 deaths and 350,000 were externally displaced. From this devastation, TCC has been a partner with the Government of Liberia in bringing two rounds of free and fair elections to the country and spearheading a far-reaching initiative to strengthen the justice system, particularly in the rural areas of the country.

Thus far, one particular aspect of TCC’s work stands out to me: devolving problem solving to local citizens. This can easily be misunderstood by thinking that people simply hold open events or distribute publications to different sectors of society. However, TCC establishes strong partnerships with civil society organizations through its Access to Justice program. Working with the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, TCC has trained 32 Community Legal Advisors that make trips to teach people their rights, resolve local disputes and advocate justice. In fact, clever new initiatives are underway to have citizens use their cell phones to connect with the advisors for legal assistance.

A short video about the Community Legal Advisors in Liberia is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DErwpCIRCzM

What’s fascinating to me is how The Carter Center is gathering information on the ground, assessing it, and then implementing appropriate programs to increase the likelihood that justice is being served in a country where the average income is $228 a year. Indeed, there is proof to TCC’s slogan of “building hope.”