When I told people I had been accepted to a journalism exchange program in Pakistan, the reaction from most Americans was, "Why would you want to go there?" But when I mentioned that the adventure would begin in Hawaii, the question quickly became, "Where can I sign up?"
The Pakistan-US Journalists Exchange is a project of the East-West Center in Honolulu. According to its president, Charles Morrison, it was founded in the early 60s when then-Senate Majority leader Lyndon Baines Johnson was trying to drum up democratic votes, he looked to the new state of Hawaii and pushed for the establishment of a government program that would allow Americans and Asians to work together on issues of common interest, including governance, education, health, demographics and the environment. US tax dollars are at work here;. the center currently receives about $17 million annually in public funds and the US-Pakistan journalists exchange has been funded by the US State Department through the Embassy in Islamabad. However, the atmosphere is more like the academic freedom of a university. "We never take a position on an issue," Morrison said. "We are a neutral forum. No international problem can be solved by the US alone."
The exchange of mid-career professional journalists from the US and Pakistan began last year. We are the second group of participants, six Americans and 10 Pakistanis were chosen. The program coordinator, Ann Hartman, set up a Facebook group that allowed us to get to know each other in the weeks leading up to the trip, exchanging press clippings and samples of our work. For the Pakistanis, the journey to the US involved a frustrating visa process and, in the case of Mehboob Ali, a brief airport detention and close questioning by US homeland security.
This talented Geo TV journalist is based in the volatile SWAT region and has distinguished himself with coverage of anti-terrorism efforts and a notable interview with the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, yet he was treated with suspicion. To make matters worse, the group's luggage was lost and they had to endure a couple of days with little more than their travel clothes. Still, they never complained and quickly embraced the task of addressing the issues facing our two countries. And taking pictures. Lots of pictures.
In another life they could have been my students from USC/Annenberg, bright, attractive and passionate about the profession of journalism. 
