September 15, 2009 Operation Midwife: A Labor of Love on the Afghan Frontlines Dear Friends, I have thought of you often since our meeting two months ago. In fact, not a day passes by in which I don’t think of TED, listen to a TED talk, or approach my work in a more innovative way thanks to a TED idea. Though I’m not the most active blogger—there’s a reason I write fiction and not memoir—I have been avidly following your blog posts. Congratulations to Meklit and Jon for wonderful recent press coverage, and to Naomi for her making bones video. I loved Seth’s posting about his wedding day and the playful humor generated by an order from Better World Books. I look forward to seeing William when his book tour passes through Seattle in October. I’m awed by the web activity of folks like Esra’a, Jessica, and Gabriella. I have some big news of my own to share. Though you know me as a doctor, humanitarian aid worker, and novelist, it’s now official, my latest professional incarnation is as producer of a documentary film! Two months ago, when we met at Oxford, I knew next to nothing about filmmaking. Since then, I have tried to school myself, assembling a stellar crew (including the Sundance-award-winning director of Afghan Star, clips of which we saw at TED U; www.afghanstardocumentary.com), finding mentors, and writing a film treatment and project proposal. Just before September 11 of this year (the tragic anniversary of which turned me into the kind of “born-again” Middle Easterner that Shereen describes, one hoping to build bridges between the West and East), I received the thrilling news that USAID will fully fund my film! I will be returning to Afghanistan next month to begin scouting and preliminary filming.
Operation Midwife: A Labor of Love on the Afghan Frontlines, is the name of my documentary film that will function as an advocacy, educational, and social marketing tool to decrease maternal mortality in Afghanistan and hopefully worldwide. Operation Midwife will attempt to capture the stunning success story of the Afghan national midwifery program, a powerful testimonial to the far-reaching impact of educating women, giving them a means of economic self-reliance, and investing in their health (via Operation Midwife: A Labor of Love on the Afghan Frontlines - TED Fellows 2009)
