USD Magazine, Summer 2003

After six months in the region, my eyes were open to the complexities of conflict, and I hoped I was able to convey my experiences to at least a few people back in the States.

Heidler visited nomadic Kuchi familes in the mountains of Afghanistan.

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After a traditional Mongolian "handshake" - arms extended in from of you, grabbing the top of the ocher person's arms wh ile touching cheeks and making a sniffing sound - you enter the ger. I was given the first stool at the back, next to the family photos and Buddhist sh.ri nes. Tumur explained rhar when che USSR was sciU kicking, he and his feUow herders received veterinary services and were able to exchange cashmere for food and supplies. Thar all came to a hale when the Soviet Union collapsed. He now knows the real marker value of his valuable cashmere, but faces problems with vet services and has little money to buy good white male breeders, which produce the most valuable cashmere. Mongolia is nor going through violent change like Kosovo, bur it is a deep change all cl1e same. People like Tumur are dealing with what seems to us like mild improvements in their lifestyle, but to a people who have lived cl1e same way for centuries, it's revolutionary. My job lasted only rwo months, so I was soon on my way. As I climbed aboard my plane in me freezing Mongolian winter, I felt char I had witnessed, rasred, a nation and people in uansition.

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After a few hours of talking to the teachers and giving instructions on the new lot of books, we headed back ro our base. Buses only swing by chis remote area a few times a day. We missed all of chem. So we had no cho ice bur head to rhe road and start hiking. After about 30 minutes a rickety Coke uuck stopped. It was a ride. While we clanked our way down the mountain in the open back of the truck, Robb looked at me and said, "There's no ocher way I would like to be spending my birthday." Robb admits char cancer played a role in spurring her to start Books fo r a Berrer World, bur says char ir only expedited the process. She has a saying char she uses to ger through the rough times and to celebrate the triumphs - "chis moment, perfect moment." Afghanistan/Pakistan - October 2001-September 2002 ArrE/l... AM&L-ING A/l...OUND THE wo/l...L-D PO/l... A PEW YEA/l...r I I THOUGHT I'D T/l...Y L-1v1 NG &Ack IN THE ~TATEr. / v1r1TED fOME friends in Austin, Texas, and was booked on a B.ight back to New York. Ir was September 2001. Because I was already dreaming about being back in New York, me Sepe. 11 terrorist attacks smacked me in me face. I was more determined to get back mere, and as quickly as possible. After rwo weeks of living on a boat on me Hudson River, I volun– teered for anomer Mercy Corps program, one mac helps underprivi– leged kids deal with lose loved ones. A week lacer, they asked me to go co Pakistan.

Guatemala -April-May 2001 Arro.. /l...ETu11..N1NG P/l...OM MoNGOL-1A 1 I rPENT roME T1ME 1N PH0EN1x 1 wHE/l...E I G/l...Ew uP. I wArN'T THE/l...E PO/l... L-ONG. Before I knew ir, I had me opportunity ro volunteer for a woman who scarred her own organization to provide books to ch ildren in rural, poor communities of Guatemala. The chain of events chat paved the way for Kae Robb to embark on chis project is a uue case of turning something bad inro some– thing good. In the four years leading up ro her fou nding of Books For a Bercer World, Robb bear breast cancer, sold her home and quit what she says was a perfect position as a sixcl1-grade Spanish teacher at Phoenix Country Day School. My mocl1er teaches at the same school and insisted we meet. Two months lacer, I met Robb in a low-rent hotel in Guatemala City. I was there to travel with her and shoot photos so she would have images to help her with fund raising. She began piecing rogecher the program after several trips to Guatemala ro visit her daughter in the Peace Corps. Spurred by her love for books, Robb began the children's lireracure program in the rural area of Baja Verapaz. I was lucky to see just how strong her love is. After rwo weeks of book deliveries, on Robb's 56tl1 birthday, we hiked up a dire moun– tain road to check on a school where she had earlier delivered books.

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