Dear Supporter,

In this increasingly polarized world, one of our highest priorities at Search for Common Ground is to find concrete ways to counter extremism.  Our preferred strategy is to encourage moderation.  And, while we seek to do this everywhere we work, it is in Indonesia that we have gone the furthest.

The Indonesian Team:  To see a two-minute trailer, please click here.

INDONESIA.  Recently, Indonesia became the 17th country in which we produced The Team, a dramatic TV and radio series that promotes peacebuilding.  The Indonesian version of The Team focuses on thwarting violence inside a prison, which is a prime breeding ground for terrorism.  There are two ethnic gangs of hardcore convicts who are fighting each other and who are, in turn, abused by brutal guards.  A new warden - a woman - arrives, and she decides to change things.  She believes that if gang members could develop mutual respect, the fighting would stop.  She supports the gangs in forming a football (soccer) team.  The players quickly realize that, if they do not cooperate, they will lose - on the pitch and in life.  This is the core metaphor for the series - and, we hope, for Indonesia.  The series is timely because the country is experiencing growing radicalism.  Indonesia's Metro TV Network is broadcasting the 13-episode series, which is funded by the UK and Australian aid agencies and which is supplemented with extensive community outreach.  The series has been nominated for eight awards at the prestigious Bandung Film Festival, including best TV director, best actor, best screenwriting and best editor.

Prison Training:  To view a four-minute video clip showing a cross-section of our Indonesian activities, please click here

Applied Moderation.  Across Indonesia, The Team is currently reaching an audience in the millions.  The writers, who are all Indonesian, draw many of the plotlines from our actual work with prisoners inside the country's jails.  With funding from the US State Department, we have formed a partnership with Indonesia's Directorate of Prisons and its National Counter Terrorism Board to re-train former terrorists and other high-risk prisoners and to help them find alternatives to violence.  In addition, we work with the National Police to promote community policing and observance of human rights.  Also, outside the prisons in the pesantren (Islamic boarding schools for youth from 8 to 18), we sponsor dialogue and debate programs.   

Commandant Janvier

RADIO:  CREATING ARCHETYPES.  While TV drama is one of our specialties, we remain a major producer of radio programming.  Particularly in rural areas where television is not available, radio is usually the best way to reach mass audiences.  In the Congo (DRC), we produce 22 hours a month of original radio programming that is aired by 85 stations.  One of our most popular series is a radio drama, called Tomorrow is a New Day, which is produced in both Lingala and Swahili.  The series focuses on improving the conduct of the police and military and, specifically, on preventing sexual violence.  Broadcast started in 2006, and 300 episodes have already aired.  The series features a villainous character, called Commandant Janvier, who embodies the worst kind of behavior and who, because of the series' popularity and longevity, has become a national model for how a military man should not act.  Now, when people in the DRC are critical of a soldier's conduct, they often call him a Commandant Janvier.

Messaging.  Our soap operas make use of popular culture to convey important social messages.  While we recognize that repetition is important in promoting new ideas, we try hard not to be preachy or didactic.  For instance, since 2001 in Sierra Leone, we have produced a five-times-a-week, radio soap, called Atunda Ayende (Lost and Found).  2,625 episodes have aired, and the series has become a national institution that provides a platform to influence attitudes on a wide variety of issues.  In 2010, when the government launched free health care for pregnant women and mothers of children under five, we used a grant from Irish Aid to add storylines to the series that inform listeners about the new medical services.  We also produced a companion radio magazine that dealt with health issues.  These programs let people know what the government's policy changes mean in their daily lives and what to do when medical services are not provided correctly.  Before the project started, only 29% of those surveyed had heard of the new health policies.  By the time our campaign ended, that figure had increased to 100%.

SEARCH STATISTICS.  Here are four statistics that describe us:

• We have 50 offices in 30 countries and a fulltime staff of 425.
• The Global Journal, a Geneva-based publication, lists us as one of the 100 best NGOs in the world.
• During 2011, we produced 120 TV episodes of The Team - with most of the actual work being done by our local partners. 
• Also in 2011, we had 467 radio station partners, and we produced 354 hours per month of original radio programs in 16 countries.
  

Secretary Clinton shares a warm moment with our Quentin Kanyatsi (right).

Mozaik kids at play

Community dialogue around Tanzanian gold mine

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