Dubai is a trading and travelling hub. People transit here for stopovers, and traders love coming here because it is safe, peaceful and tax free. Yet, because it is where you have representatives from every nation here, you'll tend to learn a lot about countries you've never heard of, or learning the precise history about a country or dismissing misconceptions you've learned about it from the media. The most important thing is you learn that peace can exist, even when people from every different tribe, tongue and nation on the globe lives together. Who says that a country can only prosper or have peace if only one tribe exists? Time and time again, it has been proven that with diversity, comes development. Diversity in character, nationalities, and values. It is precisely diversity which encourages exchange of ideas, improvisations. If there were no free flow of ideas, from whence comes development?
Here, I learnt that inter-racial marriages can be quite successful too! I met a housemaid who took pride in the family she worked for. "I'm from Uganda." she says. "The couple I work for? The wife is French, and the husband comes from Germany. The child I"m baby sitting, speaks English to me when he sees me, speaks French to the mother and German to the father. The boy is only three, and he switches fluently from English to French to German in a matter of seconds!" Isn't this amazing?
It's also here that I learnt that the leaders of every country can either 'make' or 'break' their countries. In Venezuela, almost all the young, energetic and educated youth are taking flight to find jobs out of the country due to the worsening economic situation. In Azerbaijan, the government sets up high walls and fences to shield the view of poor settlements in the city. In Iraq, the situation is still hostile - foreigners are often targeted with bombs and gunshots. In Syria, rebels are fighting against the government and refugees are pouring into neighbouring countries. War, poverty and insecurity plagues many nations every day. Nearby, Iran threatens to fire rockets at Israel. The countries in between, must be so fearful. Imagine a rocket flying over your head. Wouldn't you be scared? Will the situation take a turn for the better one day? I really hope so.
Just two weeks ago, a Jordanian told me, that she was originally a Palestinian, living next to the Jordan border. One day, her home was invaded and suddenly she found that she was stateless. Fortunately, Jordan decided to be very generous and awarded her a Jordanian citizenship. Another Palestinian was not so lucky. Having being born right in the heart of Palestine, her passport is witheld by the government. She travels from country to country based on papers. Whenever she travels, she has to apply for visa every single time. She's afraid of returning to Palestine. If she returns, she'll never be able to set foot out of the country anymore. Can you imagine what is it like for the offsprings of these citizens? Where would they have a place to call home? Imagine never having the opportunity to visit the land of your ancestors. How would you know your origins? How would you know why you act the way as you do now? If there're less roots of identification, the child will probably be left wondering, lost and confused. Just like the orphans of China, who even after being adopted, often wonder why their parents abandoned them.
In the first few months of my arrival, cases of young infants dropping down from balconies and windows attracted my attention. One survived, the rest, tragically perished.
A friend from the US, has a friend whose son works for the US Military. The son was sent to Afghanistan as a Ranger about three years ago. In the US, if you have relatives in the military based in war-afflicted countries, you will pray very fervently for their safety and wellbeing. You'll be thankful just to know that they are alive. One day, the father told his friend, "Today, you don't have to pray for my son anymore. Because last night, he was shot and they're sending his body on the next flight home. Please pray for my son's wife and kids. His wife is inconsolable, and his kids-they will never ever get to really know their dad."
How do you react to such news? No amount of words are sufficient to comfort these families. No matter how dilligently you search for the right words, you'll never find the one which is appropriate to heal their broken hearts. For us, the listeners, our tears just streamed shamelessly down our cheeks; dumbstruck by the fact that humans have the capacity to commit such atrocities towards each other. Lost for words except 'May God bless them' and 'let's uphold them in our prayers'. War is always a lose-lose situation. Which party stands to benefit from it? It affects the descendants of future generations of both sides for years and years to come.
Since life is fragile, it is precious. Tended with loving care, it sprouts and brings forth happiness. If left to fend for itself in the freezing cold, burning heat and wild jungle, it'll be like a lost tiger with fangs, biting at anything that approaches it.
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