Global Kiwi

Charlotte Bellis wants people to know that the Taliban of today is not the Taliban of the 90’s and that the situation in Afghanistan cannot be put into neat little boxes labeled ‘good and bad’ 

“It’s really frustrating watching western media report on the takeover, they have turned it into a very black and white affair. For 20 years the Taliban has been viewed as this terrible extremist group. I am not trying to dispute or gloss over that, they certainly have a terrible track record and the extremists among them have done some awful things, but by and large the Taliban of today is very different, the majority of the movement are under 30, and they want to see Afghanistan prosper.”

Charlotte has been on the front lines of the Afghanistan conflict for four years. It’s a role she chose for herself, pestering her bosses at global news network, Al Jazeera, to send her into the field. 

“Afghanistan has always fascinated me so I pitched to go there – my boss said no. Every week I would pitch again, they said I was too young, I didn’t have the right connections, I was a woman, I just kept pushing every week, I am not sure if I wore them down or just drove them mad but eventually they said, okay go.”

That was four years ago, and since then Charlotte has been travelling back and forth to Afghanistan from Al Jazeera’s base in Qatar, connecting with the right people and reporting on all sides of the conflict. She considers herself friends with US diplomats, foreign soldiers, aid workers, Afghani nationals and Taliban fighters.

The last group on that list might cause many Kiwi’s to raise an eyebrow, but Charlotte says like any political movement the Taliban has members with a mix of conservative through to liberal viewpoints. 

“Many Taliban members could easily live in a country like NZ and no one would think anything of it, sure some are very conservative and almost archaic, but there are also a lot of Taliban who are very progressive and support modern thinking. They have smartphones and apps, they take selfies and want girlfriends. In fact I give a lot of credit to smartphones and the internet for creating a more progressive Taliban, they are not this isolated group anymore, they are connected to western life and they are fascinated by it.”

Charlotte remained in Qatar during the pandemic, however peace talks between the US and Taliban took place there so she was able to continue to follow developments closely. Her sources had told her the US would be closing Bagram Air Base on July 4th, which turned out to be true and from then on things moved very fast.  

“I was finally able to get back to Kabul in Mid July, the speed at which things happened took everyone by surprise. I even had people within the Taliban saying to me they were shocked with what was happening and couldn’t believe the way things were playing out.”

“At the time you are just doing your job and you are immersed in the story but when I look back there were a number of key moments in history that my team and I were there for. “

One of the key moments was the Taliban’s first live press conference after the takeover, the one that saw a blonde Kiwi female reporter get to the heart of the issue and ask the Taliban about women’s rights. 

“At the time I didn’t think it was symbolic or memorable, it was just a question in a presser like the one before that and the one before that. To the world this was this big huge press conference, but what the world doesn’t realise is that the Taliban have been doing interviews with foreign media for a few years. Later I realised how it was interpreted and I am proud that my team and I were there on that world stage asking those important questions.”

And while Charlotte’s face and question was being beamed across the world, what did her Christchurch based parents think about their daughter being in a war zone? 

“As the takeover unfolded I made a point to stay really connected with family and friends back in NZ and other parts of the world, I would say this is happening but don’t worry I am here, or there will be attacks at the airport today but I am down at this gate and I am safe, I made sure I gave them updates on security alerts. They have no issues with me being over here, they realise I am doing something I love.”

With the Taliban in power Charlotte says the next five years will be pivotal for Afghanistan but she is hopeful that progress can be made. 

“Right now Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian crisis, the Taliban Government needs funding but no one is ready to trust them or give it to them, no one wants to give them money and then see them commit atrocities or cut off women’s rights. The Taliban leaders have to start having pivotal conversations around human rights, international aid, funding and trade and I think there are people within the movement who are open to those conversations.”

But the uncertainty of the future doesn’t put her off keeping viewers connected to the unfolding situation. 

“I love Afghanistan because it has the most powerful and interesting history. The majority of people here are caught up in something they didn’t ask for and they are paying dearly for it. Afghanistan is an incredibly beautiful country full of these beautiful hospitable people who all have these incredibly compelling stories. It’s impossible to find someone who doesn’t want to invite you in, let you sit on their floor, make you tea, they open their lives to you and they expect nothing in return. I feel so privileged to have these interactions, I’ve cried listening to people from all walks of life and all sides of the conflict tell me their stories. People here truly don’t understand how their lives have played out the way they have. They are just like us, they want the same thing Kiwis want – to be happy, to see their kids grow up and to provide for their families.”

It was carpets and flooring not private equity and managed funds that brought David to Beijing in the 1980s. Part of a small team working on the refurbishment of the Great Wall hotel in China, David immediately fell in love with the city and the feeling of change that was in the air. 

“I sensed intelligence, determination and aspiration that I didn’t see anywhere else in the world. I believed in this place and where it was headed, and I wanted to be part of that.”

After the hotel refurbishment was done, David headed back to New Zealand and approached a few companies which had an interest in China. Returning to Beijing he set up Mahon China and started to connect with people from industrial companies who were coming to China trying to see what could be done. He gradually set up a consulting operation helping industrial companies to procure things. It was a chance conversation in the early 90’s that pushed him into investment management. 

“I met the owner of a British fund management company by chance. After a late night conversation, I started helping him connect with institutions that wanted to invest in China. We joined forces and raised around $40m USD, which made us one of the larger China funds in those days.”

Eventually the British firm was acquired and that was the end of Mahon China’s partnership in private equity. However the company started helping fix problems that some joint ventures were having and got involved in stressed assets. Today Mahon China has managed five private equity funds, assisted multinationals to acquire assets in China, and worked as strategic advisor to boards in a number of industries. They currently manage stressed assets for European private equity firms and commercial banks and assist foreign companies to develop strategies to enter China.

During his almost four decades living in China, David has seen a massive change in the Chinese economy.

“Economic reform in China has been a constant feature over the past 40 years and the country has learned much from its economic management mistakes over the past four decades and tends not to repeat many, but it  does remain deeply haunted by those that have sparked social unrest in the past.”

The Government’s current focus is on reigning in its tech sector and reforming education. But David says strong opportunities will continue to exist in these sectors for Kiwi businesses who do their homework. 

“China will attract strong foreign investment in the coming years as the underlying economy is sound and the returns attractive. The Chinese Government is not hovering at the edge of each sector ready to nationalise commercial successes, but it is ready to marginalise what it perceives as companies operating beyond the state’s social controls.”

But he says these risks can be quantified, and there are grounds for confidence that the government can balance social control with a level of freedom that market operators require. 

“Foreign investors and businesses must not ignore the need for social and political due diligence alongside financial and corporate due diligence. Whenever a sector is booming, people should stand back and see how rapid growth may relate to political sensitives and operate within the existing constraints of Chinese regulation.”

He says his top advice to Kiwi businesses looking to expand or invest is to make connections. 

“Like anything, it’s about networks. Work your networks, spend time getting to know people.”

During David’s four decades in China he’s seen an incredible amount of change, but despite that he says he still feels the same way about the country as he did back in the 80s. 

“I think it’s something a lot of offshore Kiwi will understand – living a long time in a foreign country we love, a part of ourselves becomes rooted there. It can create a small sense of loss when we leave and a deep feeling of coming home when we return.”

Since the beginning of time, humans have been evolving to survive and the past 18 months has been no exception. We’ve purchased desk chairs, extra monitors and printers. We’ve navigated Zoom and Teams and managed to mute the tiny voice inside our heads that warns about too much screen time for our kids – because honestly if it keeps them quiet during that important meeting, then it is what it is.

But along with the adaptation to our working lives there has also been something else, an evolution on health and mental wellbeing. The pandemic has thrust into the spotlight the importance of looking after not only yourself but the people around you. In this age of digital connectivity we’ve come to realise how important communities and human connections really are.

For Kiwi Graeme Perry, this spotlight on health and wellbeing is something he has long been passionate about. A former fighter pilot for the New Zealand Airforce, Graeme now lives in Thailand and runs LVL. (pronounced level) A digital platform that’s helping businesses bring wellbeing into their daily operations and allowing them to create a feeling of community between staff no matter where they have to work from. 

“I think focusing and prioritising wellbeing is probably the most important thing a company can do right now, it’s the most important thing an individual can do right now. All around the world we have people working from home and you have to make sure that those people feel connected, they need to feel like they are part of a community, otherwise they will become disengaged and you will lose them.”

Pre-pandemic, Graeme’s company used a digital platform to help connect people to health and wellness providers across a chosen city, it allowed people to book and pay online and then meet those providers face to face. Then COVID-19 hit and he realised his business model needed a remake, and the digital platform and physical spaces model that became LVL was born.

“LVL gives businesses an engagement platform to offer holistic health and wellbeing content to their employees, there are live classes, on demand and masterclass content. People can get involved in everything from HIIT (High intensity interval training) to Yoga to Tai chi to art and sound therapy. But most importantly they can get involved together as a community. We run live classes where teams are online at the same time despite living all over the world. We also have the ability to work with businesses to create wellbeing spaces within corporate buildings and offer content in house. 

The corporate wellness market is a $60 billion dollar industry and it’s growing everyday. Graeme says there is a growing wave of awareness from companies about the importance of looking after your employees wellbeing.

“Wellness goes a huge way towards increasing engagement and if you increase employee engagement you increase employee retention. And all companies will tell you recruitment and retention is one of the major costs in business these days.  It’s not surprising therefore that recruitment and retention is the number one reason businesses have a wellbeing program.”

“A lot of people are really struggling with the idea of whether it’s safe to come back into the office and one of the ways to combat this is to bring wellbeing into the company. For those looking for new roles, wellbeing is also becoming more important. The way we work has changed and people are looking for more flexibility. As a business how do you manage this new hybrid, where you have people in the office and others at home. We offer a solution to this, a place where people can come together no matter where they are and interact as part of a team.”

Graeme says wellbeing isn’t just something for companies to focus on but also for individuals – especially during a time when so many people are unable to travel to see friends and family. 

“As people we can’t lose our sense of community, it’s one of the most important things, I feel really isolated from my daughters back in New Zealand, I feel the stress of that. I haven’t seen them for nearly two years, but it gives me a real lift to get online with them and do a HIIT session every Thursday or do yoga, to work together on our mental wellbeing. We could simply do a zoom session, and we do that as well, but to be able to do something that takes it to the next level and elevates that sense of community, especially during this time, that’s really powerful.”

Graeme is offering Kiwi businesses and groups complimentary access to the LVL platform until the end of September to help employees prioritize their wellbeing during the current lockdowns. If you are interested simply email [email protected]. You will be provided with an access code and further details.  Check out the platform at www.lvl-wellbeing.com