My Story

This campaign is to raise funds to publish a book of extraordinary handwritten stories written by people on the front line in Afghanistan.  The book tells their stories, it is their self portrait.

I'm an artist, based in the UK, and in 2011 I volunteered to go to Afghanistan as a war artist.  I spent a month on the front line and wanted to find a way to get inside the heads of the people I met: soldiers and civilians, Afghan and Western.

I asked everyone I met on the front line to write their unique story or a poem on a postcard and collated these stories in a series of 'Diary Rooms'.

Here's a TV interview with BFBS which tells the story about how the book came about:

http://bit.ly/1cVLJLw

One of the hundreds of postcards written on the front line:

In my time on the front line I was shot at and was with a patrol that was targeted by an IED (Improved Explosive Device) as I went to remote areas to collect the stories. Hundreds of people wrote their stories to form a unique self portrait of what it's like to be 'human' in a war zone: men and women, soldiers and civilians. The people who wrote their stories revealed extraordinary things about themselves, their lives, their losses and their hopes and fears.

What was the end result? The ‘Diary Room’ walls filled up, hundreds of stories were written, mostly on the coloured cards, but sometimes on scraps of paper, cardboard ripped from ration boxes or scribbled on blank medical forms. One soldier took an empty packet of semolina and wrote ‘Yummy’ on the side. A female medic wrote what it was like to treat her first casualties and save their lives, a chef described cooking and distributing Christmas dinner to hundreds of soldiers scattered about the front line, a bomb disposal expert described what it felt like to go to Afghanistan as a battle casualty replacement for someone who had been injured. Some of those who wrote stories went on to be killed and seriously wounded.

Overall the response I got was staggering and included excerpts such as:

‘Your mind clicks into a gear that you never knew you had, and you bark orders like your life depends on it … and GUESS WHAT: IT DOES!’

‘My abiding memory of Afghanistan? … it will be a humble local farmer who one day took me by surprise by asking after my family. ‘You are far from home. You must miss you family very much. We are very grateful.’

‘The young soldier was brought to me following an IED blast…I didn’t need to ask more questions – his eyes told the whole story. As wide as possible and conveying such a sense of bewilderment, uncertainty and terror that I shall never forget them.’

‘I’m going to write about the day to day struggle of being away … what your girlfriend was wearing last time you saw her, what she did, said, what she smelt like, what she will look like and if anything will have changed while you have been away and if you will put up with the changes when you get back … if you are close to someone that is away out here know that you will always be in their minds because there are two wars being fought, one which is publicised and one which goes on in a soldiers head when everything goes quiet….’

These extraordinary stories describe the war which goes on in a soldier's head when the fighting stops, as in this excerpt below:

The book: 'In Our Own Words'

This campaign is to help produce and publish the book 'In Our Own Words' containing these powerful stories, poems and some of the photographs I took whilst I was in Afghanistan.  I am determined to make this book happen, to help tell the stories of those who wrote from the front line.

It's important that these stories are published and seen by people because they tell the human spirit in war.  These dusty handwritten postcards, written there and then on the front line, provide an insight into this and other conflicts never before seen.  All of the people who wrote their stories had a strong need to write about what it felt like to be there.

Readers of this book will be moved by the stories and poems and what they reveal about the human spirit.  It will also challenge and perhaps change perceptions about war, soldiers and the conflict in Afghanistan.  This story by a Marine in the USMC:

In 2013 the US journal 'War, Literature and the Arts' published a really great abstract about the project at: http://wlajournal.com/25_1/pdf/Eland.pdf

The project has been described by the international press as 'groundbreaking', for more information please read these selected press reviews:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-helmand-project-2361391.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/12/soldiers-stories-afghanistan-derekland_n_1960550.html

http://blog.frieze.com/afghanistan-a-war-artists-blog/

Doonesbury also covered the story in the USA in December 2013:

http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/

Getting this book published

We need to raise £17,500 to get this unique book published in time for a book launch and exhibition of the original art work in November 2014 at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in the UK, at: http://www.visitmima.com, below:

These costs break down as follows:

• Design of UK and US book and ebook versions £4000
• Printing: two UK print runs and one US print run and ebook production £10,000
• Promotion, marketing, distribution and storage £3,500

I volunteered to go to Afghanistan on a not for profit basis and the book has a charitable link where proceeds from it's sale will go to the British charity 'Combat Stress', The Veterans's Mental Health Charity, at: http://www.combatstress.org.uk

"A small but significant number of Veterans leave the Armed Forces with psychological wounds. These can lead to depression, phobias, anxiety, relationship problems and, in some cases, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Combat Stress works with Veterans of the British Armed Forces, and members of the Reserve Forces, through effective treatment and support for mental health problems.

Everything that we do is free of charge to the Veteran. Our work is made possible through statutory, non-statutory and voluntary fundraising. We simply couldn't do what we do without the generosity of the Great British public."  

A Medical Officer write, below:

Funds raised will go into the physical production of a high quality book which will include the images of the handwritten postcards, photographs I took whilst I was in Afghanistan and essays.  I'm working on the book design with Ned Hoste at the fantastic 2H Design in the UK, at: http://www.nedof2h.net  Below is a story written by and Afghan soldier with translation:

We plan to publish an immediate 1000 physical copies of this book for distribution in the UK, with an ebook being available globally.  In our second run we plan for a second UK print run and a physical book in the US.

This book is about being human

2014 is the year when British troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan.  It is also the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

This book, 'In Our Own Words', will add considerably to the global public's view of war and conflict and what it is like to be involved.  These handwritten postcards are vital and essential in a digital age and need to be read.  There is nothing more honest and revealing than a person's own handwriting, written at a time of stress in a war zone. Readers will be enormously touched and at times shocked by these extraordinary stories, as in this excerpt:

Other Ways You Could Help

Please help by sharing this story using the Indiegogo share tools and enable 'In Our Own Words' to be published.  Many thanks!

If you want more information about me please visit www.derekeland.com or drop me an email to derekeland@hotmail.co.uk if you have any questions.

Many thanks for reading, I'm very grateful if you can help and please spread the word!

Derek