I finished this book, Barefoot in Baghdad. A Palestinian-American late 20-something woman leaves her work at the World Bank to begin and direct a Women for Women International Branch in Iraq, right as the war begins. She shares her experience working to provide safe places for vulnerable girls and women, to provide training and community for many more. She shares how she herself became a vulnerable woman as the fighting escalated, and more humanitarian workers died or fled. Amidst death threats and bombs, she and some of her Iraqi team go to Jordan. It ends with her wedding day, a week after her planned wedding day, when the flowers were instead used for a mourning service, after her fiancee's brother was kidnapped and killed.
There is an afterward. About life going on, about continuing the work. About love and loyalty for a country that is not her own. It's powerful.
I trained to work in development, like she does. I'm drawn towards issues of war and peace and the people caught in between. But, as I read about how she tried to keep together the pieces of her life in the middle of war, I know I'm not ready. Though I doubt anyone ever is. But I'm putting together some pieces of my life, too, though just a few. You have to build, you have to put pieces together, make a safe haven and refuge in the world. It's human instinct to build, just look at all the huge edifices from ancient times, let alone modern cities. But the best refuges aren't always physical. You have to build, to protect from the ugly feelings and the despair. You have to raise up.
As far as putting pieces together for my life, I was looking at the Sderot: rock in red zone documentary website (http://sderotmovie.com/). I realized how influential it has been for me in my understanding of music's role in development, and my life. It documents the power of music in a war zone, particularly for young people through the Sderock bomb shelter/music studio. Avi Vaknin, the director, explains "The original idea was to suck the poison out of them." Here's what the documentary director had to say (bold added):
I thought I might find anger and hate. What I discovered was people who are just trying to make the best out of a really terrible situation. I found incredible resilience, hope, and people who will do almost anything to support each other. The concept of using music to bring normalcy to children's lives -- its an amazing idea that really works. (http://sderotmovie.com/director.php)
It sounds simple, really. But isn't the simplest solution usually the best? Whether I get to go to Philly or I stay here a while longer, either way I know I will be beginning to explore and implement this idea, in different ways. Here's another quotation that got me thinking, again by the director:
All around, you just feel war. People stay in their houses, schools are closed. “Learning Together,” a wartime television program broadcasts daily high school classes for kids who can’t go to school. The classes are taught by famous Israeli writers, poets, and philosophers. (http://sderotmovie.com/blog/, 1/6/09)
It's so simple, again, but it really hit me. How smart! When I was working at the Children's Hospital, I got into the habit of watching Sesame Street in the morning while I got ready. They danced, and I like dancing, what can I say. I just wonder why educational shows aren't deemed necessary for anyone under the age of 5 (The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye excluded). One of my professors had this funny cartoon on his door, of a native tribe quickly hiding their television when the anthropologists show up, so as to appear more "indigenous." TVs are so common, and so communal. There is nothing that replaces teacher-student education, but there is so much more that could be done to make this a really valuable piece of technology...
Anyways. So. Pieces. Being put together in my head. And now on the internet, so that I don't forget. And so that people maybe point out stuff that I didn't notice :)
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