Scott Wyatt of Companion Flag Support International, a member of the Washington State Coalition for International Education, was invited to Uzbekistan in spring, 2003 to introduce the Companion Flag in schools in Tashkent and other areas of the country. Scott arrived in Tashkent just a few days before the terrorist bombings.

Note: The Companion Flag is a symbol of all that human beings have in common. It stands for everything that is done, held, known, or experienced in common by human beings, notwithstanding their differences. To learn more, go to http://www.companionflag.org/.

Jump to posting:  4/1/2004 | 4/7/2004 | 4/13/2004 | 4/18/2004 | 4/26/2004 | 5/3/2004

4/1/2004

As of Wednesday, it appears things are still unstable here. Getting news is next to impossible – that is, until I am at an Internet café. Rumors are a dime a dozen.

I am cautiously proceeding with my plans. I called Stevin Strickland, a Peace Corps volunteer who teaches at a school here, whom I met in October. He told me that Tashkent is being closed off from the outside, and that there was at least one gun battle at a military checkpoint or something, with many casualties.

The US Embassy is closed, and the Peace Corps has told its volunteers to stay at home. The local schools, which were scheduled to re-open after spring break tomorrow, are now staying closed until the 5th . . .at least.

You can imagine what this is doing to my plans. Tuesday I was able to meet with Abbas Iriskulov and with the fellow from the ministry of public education. The upshot was that we were to deliver a copy of the Russian text of the CF web site to the minister’s office by 3 pm that day, then call him Wednesday morning (I’m writing this Thursday, at 5 a.m.) for a time to come in to talk more about plans and scheduling. It turns out he called us first to say with regrets that the situation is critical (apparently his word) and that he is unable to meet. He said, “Perhaps next week.”

It’s really hard to know what’s going on. Wednesday, the situation “felt” much more dicey than before, but I didn’t have facts to back it up. With what little I know, I can guess it has to do with Uzbekistan’s support of the American-led war on terror, and possibly the recent fighting in Pakistan. I say that because before I took off, the news reports from Pakistan were the first I’d heard where members of the UIM (Uzbek Islamic Movement) were identified in connection with those allegedly protecting bin Laden’s second in command (al Zwahari, or some- thing like that). It turned out he wasn’t there, or had escaped via tunnels or something. . .but, again, the communications that were being intercepted in that battle apparently pointed to Uzbek militants.

The pres. of Uzbekistan has been engaged in an uncompromising campaign to quash Islamic fundamentalists in general and the UIM in particular. Other people – including an American I met yesterday – thought the violence was more ‘internal’ in the sense of being directed quite literally at the Tashkent police, which apparently has a reputation for brutality and corruption.

I just don’t know. Since there was the explosion in Bukhara, as well, it seems the Tashkent police angle might be wrong. Maybe he meant the national police.

Anyway, yesterday I felt marooned. I called the translator for the city of Tashkent with whom I’d worked last year, and asked him for advice. He said I should get a local visa (Tashkent) before going out of Gayana’s house again, as the police may well be stopping foreigners to ask for papers. Gayana’s father very kindly took my paperwork downtown to get me the local visa. The odd thing is, I did not have a local visa in October, and did not even know of such a thing. You would think a national visa issued by the Uzbek Embassay would suffice anywhere in the country.

It’s interesting, but one of the things I was going to do Wed. afternoon was look into buying a cell phone for a month. The initial plan developed with Abbas has been for me to travel outside of Tashkent to what they call “the Regions”. They would give me lots of contacts in each place, and these people would welcome me to their schools, universities, whatever. (Sounds odd, I know, but this is the way things work here). Anyway, I realized that a phone was going to be essential, and I had concluded that it was a justifiable expense for the month (~$150), since it would also be a safety feature allowing me to call back to Tashkent if I needed help or ran into problems.

Now, the idea of traveling about on the roads of Uzbekistan doesn’t seem too safe, and I’m wondering about flying to Ferganna Valley, Samarkand, and Bukhara, and calling that ‘good’. Those are the most populated areas, and from what Abbas has said there should be no problem keeping myself busy visiting schools.

Anyway, things are too uncertain to know if I’ll being leaving Tashkent for the Regions or not. Perhaps I will abort and go on to India, or maybe my efforts will have to be focused on schools in Tashkent only.

I am in danger of wearing out my welcome with Gayana and her family (although they are giving me no such indications – I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such hospitality!). With Gayana’s help, I have identified a furnished flat not too far from here, and I have made arrangements to see it this afternoon. $90 for the month.

. . .Abbas has arranged for me to speak today to the English language department students at a local university. That’s the latest news, but I won’t know the details until I call him at his request this morning.

That is truly how things work around here. In Seattle, such a talk would be scheduled weeks or months in advance; here, it can happen while you’re in the bathroom.

I’ll of course write more later. I have truly loved and appreciated hearing from you (although my time in the Internet café does not allow me to respond to each email). It’s thanks to this USB key – an amazing little gizmo (new to me!) that lets me write offline at home, plug the key in at the café and fire the text off as an email -- that I’m able to be so characteristically and incomparably long-winded!

As it will probably be late this afternoon before I get to the Internet café again, I will add a word or two below, to let you know how it went at the university.

-------------------------------------------

The presentation went OK. The students seemed interested, although they didn’t have a lot of questions. For my first presentation here, it was fine. The dean of the English department said this idea should spread throughout the world, and expressed the hope that Uzbekistan would lead the way. He accepted from me an Uz. Companion Flag which I sort of tried to tell him was being tendered ‘on condition’ (not the words I used, of course) that the school’s Rektor would decide to formally adopt and fly it. I couldn’t press the point to much; I mean, a gift is a gift. I always have this fear of Companion Flags being stored away on the top shelf of a basement closet somewhere, only to be found 30 years from now by a custodian and parted-out for place mats.

A final word. It’s Friday, around noon as I write this. Things seem calm (I do realize how irrelevant this observation can be in an instant). I am being careful, and have some renewed hope that I can accomplish what I have set for myself here.

Thank you for all your notes, which I treasure.

Scott

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4/7/2004

Hi all,

It is Wednesday, April 7. I’m now in my own ‘flat’ on the outskirts of the city, about a 20 minute walk from the home of my original host family. Like what seems 95% of the people here, I’m living the Soviet residential experience: This is an enormous apartment building, a huge, gray hulk which has nothing to excite the envy of neighbors living in the other gray hulks around it. Scott Wyatt lives on the 5th floor, apartment 87. The stairway is not lit, which makes climbing to my room at night an adventure.

Gayana, who has been so helpful to me and such a tremendous champion of the Companion Flag (as I explain below), found the flat for me when circumstances dictated that I move from her small but loving home (on the ground floor of a similar building). Gayana’s sister and her husband had given up their room for me with the understanding that they would be inconvenienced for a week. The bombings and unrest here changed by travel plans, but of course I couldn’t stop the week from passing and had to quit the room.

It was an odd feeling moving from the comfort of a home full of activity, music and children to this large two-bedroom, sparsely furnished apartment that seems to be holding its breath. But now I’m acclimated and I like it. My own place, after all.

I have exciting news to report after my slow start. Public School 17 (where Gayana and her mother both teach) officially adopted the Companion Flag yesterday! I spoke at two classes there, and answered questions at one other; but the real work had already been done by Gayana, who has (without a doubt!) exceeded the role of a translator. She loves the Companion Flag idea, and is determined to introduce it in this part of the world!

Gayana not only introduced the idea to her fellow teachers there, and to the principal, but dedicated each of her 8 classes on Monday to introducing the CF to her students. She used some of the classroom materials available on the website, but went beyond that to develop a student worksheet and evaluation. If that weren’t enough, she has just completed a 15-minute student play that will be used to introduce the Companion Flag to the student body at the CF adoption ceremony May 3 or 4. It is all quite stunning and wonderful. It has always been my dream that others would embrace the CF idea as their own – since it is their own, and everyone else’s – and run with it as their imagination dictates. I have had the great fortune of seeing this dream come true at home; and now I have seen it here!

When Gayana, her mother and I met yesterday with the principal, the principal did not even hesitate. “Of course!” she said, “We must do this! It is such a wonderful idea!” And so, with great pleasure, I presented to her the Uzbekistan Companion Flag that was purchased for School 17 by Meridian Park Elementary School in Shoreline. The three women set about discussing the adoption ceremony in Russian, and I caught my breath.

My next event (not yet confirmed) is a presentation at what I believe is called the Oriental Language University. The last indication is that I would be invited to speak there tomorrow (Thursday), although as I think I might have mentioned in my last email, confirmations come in mysterious ways. Those around me seem to know that something is “on” when I swear there has been no phone contact or other communication with anyone. It is as though confirmations are spawned by intuition here. Friday, I’m scheduled to make a presentation at the Uzbekistan Teacher of English Association meeting, and I’m hoping that that will open up more opportunities in and around Tashkent.

Next week, I will be traveling to Andijan in the far east of Uzbekistan for 3-4 days, and the following week, to Samarkand, south-west of here. That, I think, will be the extent of my travels outside of Tashkent. It seems that things are quieter here now, but I will continue to be vigilant.

I’m hoping all of you are doing well. I’ve enjoyed hearing from you – I love it, in fact – and hope you’ll write again.

Scott

PS. Our around-the-world Companion Flag Ambassadors, Jen and Winston Yeung have received an invitation to present the Companion Flag idea at a school in New Zealand later this month! If the school adopts the CF, that will be the first CF to fly in NZ! And for those of you who don’t know, Meridian Park Elementary School in Shoreline, WA (mentioned above) adopted the CF just a day or two before I left on this trip!

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4/13/2004

Hi all,

I am in Andijon now, in the far east of Uzbekistan in what’s called the Ferghana Valley. I am sitting up in an ancient old metal twin bed in the living room of Gayana’s aunt, Tomara. Aunt Tomara’s furnishings, rugs, and all but a few plants and strange examples of Uzbekistan bric-a-brac are boxed up, as she is preparing to move to Russia to live with her daughter.

Tomara is sniffing and catching her breath through mouth every few minutes, complaining of allergies. I feel bad for Gayana who will sharing a bed with her, but Gayana doesn’t seem to mind, and the two are in there chatting away like a couple of Russian chums.

We did not get here without incident. The road from Tashkent to Andijon crosses a high mountain range, and the roads are bad-to-very bad. We had hired a taxi to take us on the 5 hour trip for 30,000 “sooms”, or $30. The guy drove quite fast, but seemed to be in control as he swerved here and there to avoid potholes and other cars. It was a fool’s game in the end, however; after reaching the valley and about an hour short of Andijon, all hell broke loose.

I was listening to relaxing music on my iPod and leaning back with my eyes closed. Suddenly, there was a very loud bang/thud, and a second later (before I could open my eyes) the car was careening out of the control. As I opened my eyes, the car was spinning. Luckily, there was no on-coming traffic. We ended up facing 180, and crossed (going backwards) into the other lane. The car came to a stop with a screeching of metal on pavement, and the smell of rubber burning.

The right rear tire had been completely blown out (and off the rim!), and the axle was bent by the force of the car spinning on its wheel. It all happened so fast that it seemed to be over before it started; I think the suddenness was heightened by the fact that I had my eyes closed, and was listening to relaxing music.

We waited in the dark for about 40 minutes until another taxi came, and then we completed our journey here.

The day began much better than ended. I had a successful Companion Flag presentation at a lyceum (a high school, for all practical purposes) in south Tashkent, where the students in attendance (about 200) spoke English. They expressed great interest in becoming the next Companion Flag school, as did the teachers who attended the lecture. Within a half hour of my talk, I was in the principal’s office presenting him with an Uzbek/Companion Flag deskset, pins and cards, and I asked him (through an interpreter – he did not speak English) if the lyceum would be interested in formally adopting the Companion Flag. He said ‘Yes, the decision has already been made.’ They scheduled a formal adoption ceremony for next Tuesday at 10 am.

In the taxi home from that event, I received a call from Abbas Iriskulov, the university professor who has been Companion Flag’s ‘angel’ here. I told him the good news about the lyceum, and he told me (a) that he had just scheduled me to present the Companion Flag idea at another Tashkent lyceum next Monday (where he would expect them to also adopt the Companion Flag), and (b) that yet another lyceum, one called the Academic Lyceum under the Uzbek State Technical Institute, where I have not made a presentation, knew all about the Companion Flag and has scheduled their own adoption ceremony! It’s not clear that I’ve been invited, or whether we’ll be in Tashkent then, and this (for reasons I’m sure you understand) is the best news of all!

I am hopeful that we will have opportunities to share the idea here in the Ferghana Valley. Uzbek is spoken almost exclusively here, but there are Russian speaking schools, as well. As Gayana is an excellent translator in Russian, but doesn’t speak Uzbek, it is the latter will be visiting. I was able to make one contact with an American teacher from Tashkent, and he called during our trip here to say he had lined up a presentation for me in at least one school. He was still working on others. He had also referred me to another American teacher teaching in nearby Ferghana. I was only able to contact her by email, so I will need to get to an Internet café right away to see if she has replied.

The plan is to stay here in the Ferghana Valley region until Friday, then return by car to Tashkent. There will be many more checkpoints going to Tashkent, than there were leaving. Leaving we were stopped ~3 or 4 times, and our passports were checked only once. The other times, we were ignored, and the driver was simply required to open the trunk.

BTW, it is ILLEGAL to use seatbelts here. This is what I’m told. If it’s true (and Gayana swears it is), need one say more about ‘official Uzbekistan’?

I look forward to hearing from you, and will write again soon.

Scott

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4/18/2004

Hi all,

The Companion Flag is now almost ‘a regular item’ in Andijon, Uzbekistan. Five schools (actually 3 schools, one lyceum, and one institute) adopted the Companion Flag over the course of our 3-day stay! It was truly amazing!

The credit goes to Gayana, who once again mixed contagious enthusiasm for the Companion Flag idea with forceful streams of strange-sounding words to move mountains! I’m feeling more and more dispensable each day. (I suppose I could stand up and shout, “What am I? Chopped liver?!” -- but no one would understand me, and I’d probably just get polite applause and a few ‘thumbs up’ gestures before Gayana started in again.)

You, of course, know that I am kidding, and that I truly could not be more thrilled with what’s happening here. It is so gratifying to see people enthused about the Companion Flag idea, displaying the Companion Flag, wearing the pins, and wanting to be Companion Flag Ambassadors themselves! I am beginning to harbor the hope that, based on the overwhelmingly favorable responses from students and teachers (well documented in our evaluation questionnaires), it really may be possible to launch a nation-wide Companion Flag adoption project here in all public schools next year. I don’t want to count chickens, of course, but people here welcome this idea with such enthusiasm and with so little (in fact, seemingly no) hesitation, that I’m allowing myself some optimism.

The Companion Flag idea was meant to be seen this way, as a gesture of recognition of what is unquestionably true (our inter-connectedness as human beings), without further comment or ‘prescription’ regarding our beliefs, national or local values, moral choices, and the like. I may well run into the quagmire of pragmatism when I approach the government, but for now I’m excited about planting the seed of this idea in so many bright, young minds!

Tomorrow (Tues.) we’re off to Samarkand for 3 days. Friday I have a presentation at another lyceum here in Tashkent, and then Saturday morning it’s off to Lucknow, India for a week.

I will close now, hoping that all of you are doing well. Thanks so much to those who have written. I really appreciate hearing from you.

Scott

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4/26/2004

Hi all,

I’m in Lucknow, India, at the guest house of the City Montessori School – reputedly the world’s largest school by population: over 27,000 students. I arrived here Sat. night from Tashkent, via Delhi, and managed to smuggle in a cold.

I was met at the Lucknow airport by Shishir, the wonderful young man with whom I have carried on an email correspondence since January. It turns out the gracious tone of his emails was only a faint reflection of the warmth and generous hospitality he and the school were prepared to extend to me. They’ve put me up in a fine guest room, and are adamant about meeting my every need. Since my main need is coffee in the morning, I don’t think I’ve been too much of a challenge for them thus far.

It’s Monday morning now, and today I will give my first presentation. I’m not sure of the time or place, but am told to expect to address around 500 students. Shishir will pick me up at 9, and we’ll go from there. CMS is spread out over the city at 20 different locations.

My impressions of India are still forming, but I’ve seen nothing unexpected just yet. Perhaps there is one exception: I was prepared for the experience of people (especially children) touching me, following me, begging for money. That has not happened yet. I experienced some of that in Tashkent, especially at the last public market I visited, but so far I have not been approached in India. I’m sure it’s here, and it probably has to do with the location of this guest house (which seems to be fairly close to the edge of town). People do stare at me, and yesterday as I took a walk after dinner a store owner actually called his entire staff out of the back room to come and have a look!

My last few days in Tashkent were productive, although not as spectacularly so as the preceding couple of weeks. Gayana and I made two presentations in Samarkand (the trip to that beautiful city had to be shortened); we spoke at the Samarkand Language Resource Center, where the director immediately adopted the Companion Flag, and then at the Samarkand Foreign Language Institute. I found the latter event particularly enjoyable because the college-age students were very engaged and enthused, and were coming up with their own ideas about how to spread the message. Three volunteered to be ambassadors, taking the Companion Flag idea out to ‘the villages’ – this is what they call rural areas in Uzbekistan – and in ‘the villages’ Uzbek is the only language spoken. They exchanged contact information with Gayana, and agreed to come to Tashkent in the future to meet with her, get materials, etc.

Unfortunately, the director of the institute was out of town, so it is not clear whether or not that college will adopt the Companion Flag formally. However, an English teacher in attendance, a very sweet woman of maybe 40, with a beautiful but self-conscious smiled (no doubt from speaking to a native English speaker) told us afterwards that she is “very enthusiastic about this idea” and promised to approach the director and solicit his support for adoption. She said she would call Gayana and let her know this week.

Samarkand is an ancient city, more pleasing to the eye than Tashkent; but, with the exception of the incredible 13th and 14th c. mosques that Samarkand is famous for, the two cities do not seem that dissimilar to me. (Gayana disagrees, and sees Samarkand as a wonderful haven for the weary. I guess I just wasn’t there long enough!)

The ancient mosques and madrassas are truly spectacular, and none moreso than the 3 giant mosques that most of us have seen depicted in photos at what I think is called ‘Reginy Square’ (Sand Square?). These really must be modern wonders of the world, they are so ornate, colorful and beautiful!

The most beautiful sight I saw there was the mosque of Tamerlane, at night. The blue dome high in the air is lit by blue lights from one side, and green lights from the other, and the effect against the black sky is truly dream-like. In fact, I have never seen anything that so clearly seemed to be called out of a dream as this. When I first saw it, I had to sit down and could not take my eyes off of it. The effect was magnificent, like an artist’s exaggeration on canvas, too perfect for this world! I managed to leave eventually, but found myself looking back again and again in amazement.

Samarkand is called the Jewel of the East. I’m convinced I saw the jewel of the east with my own eyes!

Gayana and I drove back to Tashkent Thursday night by taxi ($21 for the 3 ½ hour trip). The road was a bumpy, two lane highway, not that dissimilar from the road to Andijon (but without the high mountain pass), and the driver once again flew over the bumps like a maniac. The lanes are not marked, and cars zip past flashing their headlights and indiscriminately passing other cars, unlit tractors, horse or mule drawn carts, etc. The passing lane is the center of the road, and on-coming traffic is expected to have the decency to move over. I’m convinced that the idea of NOT passing on a curve or hill would strike these drivers as folly.

And the best part is. . .we made it. I slept for the last time in my flat, and enjoyed the last of my Seattle coffee the next morning. Gayana went to work in the morning, and we met at 12:30 to go to our last presentation before my trip to India. It went very well, I thought, and we ended on a high note. The school was the academic lyceum (as I’m sure you know by now, this is the equivalent of a high school) under the world economy and diplomacy university. The principal loved the idea, as did 99% of the students, and it appears that this will be another school leading the way in Uzbekistan.

Now it is just a matter of organizing our evaluations and submitting a report to the Ministry of Public Education. Rather than try to put all this information together too quickly, what we’ve decided to do is to make an appointment with the Ministry of Public Education for next week (sometime during the 4 days that I will be back in Tashkent before returning to Seattle), to make a preliminary (informal) report on the pilot project. . .to be followed up with a more formal written report a few weeks later. It occurred to me that it would be great to have some students accompany us, to give their views on the Companion Flag project directly. . .so that’s what we’ll try to do.

There will be a formal flag adoption ceremony at Gayana’s school (Public School 17) during my stay-over, and the principal at the last academic lyceum we visited said he would like to schedule something during this time, as well. In addition, I am trying to secure an invitation to introduce the Companion Flag to one more school in Tashkent before I leave: an International School attended by the children of ambassadors to Uzbekistan from various countries around the world.

I guess that about does it. I’m anxious to get underway here in India, and hopefully will have more to report soon. One thing I forgot to mention: when I met with the founder and president of CMS on my first evening here (Sat.), he mentioned how important he thought the Companion Flag idea was, and he extended an invitation to me on the spot to return to Lucknow in December to address a conference of Chief Justices of the World, which CMS is hosting! I don’t know if this conference is actually what it says it is, but it was flattering to be asked.

Scott

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5/3/2004

Hi all,

Just got wonderful news from CF Ambassadors Jen and Winston Yeung in New Zealand. Thanks to their efforts, a school in NZ has adopted the CF, and the CF now flies with the flag of New Zealand! More on this as I get more details

It’s Friday morning, April 30. My week in Lucknow has been, on the whole, more interesting than enjoyable, but I am happy to be here just the same. It occurred to me a couple days ago that any comprehension of ‘the shape of life in India’ (assuming Lucknow is typical) is slow in coming. I am overloaded with impressions, and I’m sure now I will leave in this condition.

For me, this experience has been similar to staring at one of those “trick pictures” (my phrase) covered with dots and splotches, looking for the tree or boat or the fox holding a tea cup that others claim to see: “Just relax your eyes and you will see it.” (These were popular in Seattle a few years ago – although never with me. I did a Sgt. Schultz every time I tried – “I see NOTH-ING!”) Anyway, India reminds me of that. A land of disconnected images.

My guide and host, Shishir, tells me that here in India, every five miles the water changes, every 10 miles the language changes, and every 15 miles the culture changes. So. . .no wonder! He says to really understand India you have to ‘walk it.’ You can’t fly, and you can’t take a train or car either: you’ll simply miss too much.

I think if I were to stay a month or two, I would begin to see the wolf and weave of things a bit more, at least here in Lucknow, and some of these outward effects would drop their claims on my attention. But that has not even begun to happen as I prepare to leave.

I asked Shishir what the ‘cohesive forces’ were that held this disparate society together, and he answered without hesitation: “Acceptability. Here, people accept each other despite their different stations in life, despite religious differences, and the like. That’s why the Companion Flag will do so well here.”

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And it has done well (despite a slow start early in the week). It’s Saturday evening now, and I’m typing this in the waiting area of the Lucknow airport. My flight to Delhi is scheduled to leave in 30 minutes.

This morning, City Montessori School of Lucknow (purportedly the world’s largest school at 28,000+ students) formally adopted the Companion Flag, holding adoption ceremonies at 2 of its 20 branch locations. Yesterday afternoon, another school, Hoerner’s College, adopted the Companion Flag, and later in the day the principal of Innisfree School in Bangladore (sp?), Southern India (while visiting CMS) announced that her school would adopt the Companion Flag upon her return, as well.

It was quite a day. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Shishir, the Companion Flag has been featured in 4 local newspapers over the last three days; and, on Thursday I was interviewed and photographed by correspondents for the two largest circulation papers in Lucknow, the Times of India (the nation’s largest paper) and the Hindustan Times. I haven’t seen the articles (if any) yet, but Shishir assures me there will be articles, and he will forward them when they appear. He thinks the Times of India may publish it’s articles online, as well, so. . .we’ll see. In all events, it’s been a good week of publicity for the Companion Flag idea! And the Companion Flag now flies over Indian soil!

The feature writer for the Hindustan Times got very excited about the project, and said during the interview that she would like to ‘take this idea national.’ She mentioned Delhi, Mombai (Bombay), Calcutta, Banglador (I’m sure I’m spelling this wrong) and one other place that I didn’t recognize. So, again, lot’s of positive interest here!

Shishir and another employee of CMS asked me if they could serve as co-directors of the newly-named “Companion Flag: India!” project. I said sure, that would be great, as long as they are able to separate the Companion Flag from the rather obvious and over-determined religious and political agenda of the founder and manager of CMS. We met to discuss just this issue, so we’ll see if that can be done successfully. If not, we’ll have to look to other people to spearhead the project.

I must say I am leaving India (I’m now in the Dehli airport, waiting for my 1:10 AM flight to Tashkent) convinced that any number of schools would adopt the Companion Flag here with little or no hesitation. It’s true, I think, as Shishir said, that acceptance of others as equal human beings – at least in terms of recognizing their dignity (and avoiding doing anything overt to embarrass them, or diminish their self-worth) – is a fundamental feature of life here. The Companion Flag fits right in, and with only one exception, and that one was short-lived, I have not heard anyone raise the classic pragmatic concerns (‘what’s in it for me?’ or ‘I’m afraid I don’t get it; what good is a symbol reminding people of what we have in common?’)

I’ve received several invitations to return to India to continue this work. Perhaps the most exciting came from the principal I met quite by accident from Innisfree School. It turns out she is on the executive committee of the national school principals association. As fate would have it, I met her again waiting for her plane at the airport in Lucknow, and there she sat wearing the India/Companion Flag pin on her sari! I asked if I could join her, and we had a delightful conversation for about 30 minutes, before she had to board her plane. In that time, she mentioned that the executive committee is planning the annual convention of school principals from around India, which usually gathers 500 – 700 principals. I mentioned (apologizing for my forwardness) that this would be a great place to introduce the Companion Flag, and she said she had already thought of that. The convention is at the end of November. If we are successful in getting a formal project started in Uzbekistan in December, I would probably return to Uzbekistan on the next scheduled (free) Boeing delivery flight (of a jet purchased by Uzbekistan Airlines). Currently, the delivery target date is early December, 2004. I’m sure you get the rest. . .

But there are a lot of ifs and buts in between, too. More than just ‘lucky timing’ would have to play a hand.

Well, I’ll close for now. I feel bad that I don’t have more details to report about India. It’s an interesting place, but a bit of a “trick picture” as well.

I don’t know if this will be my last group e-mail on this trip, or not. There may be one more. In all events, I would love to hear from you. I will be flying home (Tashkent-London-Seattle) on May 6.

Scott

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