Date: May 15th 2008

Today we met with Iraqi refugee musicians here in Amman, Jordan who can work with us to begin teaching younger Iraqis the precious old lyrical maqam music and help preserve a deep and vital aspect of currently endangered Iraqi culture.
What is the precious old maqam music of Iraq?
These songs contain spiritual wisdom handed down from the days of the Silk Road.
The full ranges of ancient subtle microtonal musical scales are used and extreme fine tuning of the senses is required.
We are talking about a container for the ancient Mesopotamian way of life which dates from the times when the Fertile Crescent was making some of the greatest contributions to civilization ever known.

A friend who runs a local music store has offered to allow the lessons to take place in his store until we raise enough money to rent a dedicated location in which these teachings can take place.

Also remember: this provides desparately needed employment for these refugees.

Tomorrow we go up to Damascus to initiate an identical project there in Syria which has been the most welcoming country to these now homeless Iraqis.
If they cannot yet return to their homes in Iraq we can at least provide this way for them to preserve their ancient spirit.
This pathway through Musical Missions of Peace is a direct connection through living Iraqi musicians who are eager to pass their traditions to their children.

Musicians can be seen as the most trustworthy souls to carry out this mission. They are neither politicians nor military men nor even ambitious in business. When they chose the musical path, they chose the path of the heart and of the poet.

Now is the time. Please forward this message far and wide so that the American people can help preserve something precious in the midst of otherwise widespread disruption and destruction. Encourage your friends to join our email list so that they can be kept up to date.

To make a donation, or better yet, to become a subscriber, or regular donor to Musical Missions of Peace, go to: http://www.musicalmissionsofpeace.org and scroll down to the Donate button and use your credit card. We must have help to carry out this project. Or send a check to: Musical Missions of Peace, 2090 Grape Ave, Boulder, CO 80304. Your donations to this non-profit corporation are tax-deductable.

Remember that the governments have spent hundreds of billions on the destructive process and shown very little ability to fix the things they have broken. In my opinion it is up to us, the people, to actually make progress in this direction.
Thanks and More Soon, Cameron