Friday, February 29, 2008
No wars I wish....
These days I've kept busy taking part in different anti war organizations/meetings trying to help end/not start any sorts of wars anywhere. Sometimes the news I hear and read from the places involved in stupid nonsense wars is so heartbreaking that I just sit down & cry for all the injustice in the world. The war in Iraq I believe started with nonsense reasons too and is a mess right now &has left people living in fear, hunger and the place to be one of worst and most unsafe place to live in.
Here is a heartbreaking article I came across in my friend's blog & I like to share it with you; I honestly had a hard time reading the whole thing to the end, so be prepared:
"Abu Muhammad, a Baghdad resident, found it difficult to let go of his daughter's hand but he had already convinced himself that selling her to a family outside Iraq would provide her with a better future.
"The war disgraced my family. I lost relatives including my wife among thousands of victims of sectarian violence and was forced to sell my daughter to give my other children something to eat," he told Al Jazeera.
In 2006, Abu Muhammad and his family were forced to leave their home in Adhamiya, a district of Baghdad, after militia fighting claimed the streets in his once tranquil neighborhood.
They began living in a makeshift refugee camp on the outskirts of Baghdad, but he soon lost his job and the children, unable to make the daily trek, quit school.
"There wasn't enough money to spend on books, clothes and transport," he said. His daughter, Fatima, the youngest of four children, began to show signs of malnourishment and a local medic said she had become anemic.
Desperation
By mid-2007, conditions for his family had become desperate and his children, once healthy and bubbling with life, had become gaunt and lethargic.
It was then that a translator and a Swedish couple claiming to be part of an international NGO arrived in the makeshift refugee camp.
"They heard about my situation and the woman, who said she could not have babies, offered some money to give her my youngest daughter of two years old," he said.
"I refused in the beginning but the Iraqi translator was constantly coming at the camp and insisting with the same question. One day I found that my children would die without food and a clean environment and the next time he came to my tent, I told him that I agreed."
He gave the translator all personal documents and after a week the couple came with new documents for Abu Muhammad to sign, authorizing the adoption and to pick up his daughter.
Abu Muhammad, who received $10,000, believes he is now damned by God, but he says his inner turmoil is allayed somewhat by his belief that Fatima will have a better life than many in Iraq.
"I could see her love in the first time she looked at her," he said of the adoptive mother.
Alarming disappearances
Local officials and aid workers have expressed concern over the alarming rate at which children are disappearing countrywide in Iraq's current unstable environment.
Many Iraqi families have fled sectarian fighting
to live in makeshift camps [EPA]
Omar Khalif, vice-president of the Iraqi Families Association (IFA), an NGO established in 2004 to register cases of those missing and trafficked, said that at least two children are sold by their parents every week.
Another four are reported missing every week.
He said: "[The] numbers are alarming. There is an increase of 20 per cent in the reported cases of missing children compared to last year."
"In previous years, children were reported missing on their way home from schools or after playing with friends outside their homes. However, police investigations have revealed that many have been sold by their parents to foreign couples or specialised gangs."
According to police investigations and an independent IFA study, Iraqi children are being sold to families in many European countries - particularly the Netherlands and Sweden - Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
"Taking advantage of the desperate situation of many families living under poverty conditions in Iraq, foreigners offer a good amount of money in exchange of children as young as one-month old and up to five years of age," Khalif said.
He said there are fears children are being trafficked for the sex trade and the organ transplant black market."
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentines Day!
I read this somewhere & thought it would be appropriate to be shared on valentine day:
"The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other
all along."
~Rumi
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY DEAR FRIENDS & FAMILY :)
"The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other
all along."
~Rumi
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY DEAR FRIENDS & FAMILY :)
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Flight
A "dreamy" quote I came across with:
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." - Leonardo da Vinci
Hope I can learn to fly one day...
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." - Leonardo da Vinci
Hope I can learn to fly one day...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A few friendship quotes
Here is a couple of the quotes that I've been reading; thought of sharing'em here :
"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant."
- Socrates
"Keep your friendships in repair."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."
- Samuel Johnston
I've learned: you've gotta slow down in making friends, people could be full of surprises; I haven't been able to "act" to this though; since I like people a lot and make friends way too fast! and this is not healthy for me...
"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant."
- Socrates
"Keep your friendships in repair."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."
- Samuel Johnston
I've learned: you've gotta slow down in making friends, people could be full of surprises; I haven't been able to "act" to this though; since I like people a lot and make friends way too fast! and this is not healthy for me...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Vacation
It was a while that I was looking forward to a great vacation where I can take a break from everyday duties and forget about anything that happens in my everyday life specially a break from school, exams, & research ... I even had break from internet and any kind of reading and it felt great to be that relaxed...
Anyhook, I went to Orlando Fl for 7 days with my hubby and an awsome group of friends (totally 9 people). Places we visited were 2 parks of universal Studios,KSC (Kennedy Space Center of NASA) which I enjoyed visiting for the second time, Seaworld and the most beautiful park I had ever seen the Disney's EPCOT (the image is Epcot's).This amazing park had wonderful rides of human historty from the begining and on to the future ; Mission space where they simulated a take off, ride and landing in Mars. Each of us had a particular role in running the S/C and I was the Flight Engineer!
Since I love travelling this park was the right place for me to be: they had designed different countries of the world with their particular buildings and special markets in this park.(As far as I remember the countries were France, Germany, Morocco(see the second image), Mexico, Norway,China, Japan, Italy and US & Canada)There was still a lot to see and one day was not enough to see the whole parks.
To my own surprise we are planning to go back this time just to see a shuttle take off in the next month or so. This proves that we "LOVE" road trips fo sho!!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Traveler to U.S
One of my best friends is coming to U.S in a few weeks with a student visa.I don't know if I have this from my feminist side, but every time I see a girl coming from Iran I admire her action a lot more than when I see a guy doing this!! This time the society has nothing to do with it; families are the ones I'm blaming: It is hard for some girls to convince their parents that they like to study abroad and this is while families let go of their sons a lot easier...I myself had some problems; my family didn't like the idea that I leave the country SINGLE! I did it eventually but took me a few years to succeed! This girl too, has had a lot difficulties getting here and I admire her efforts and I hope there'll be a day that the small societies, the families respect their sons and daughters choices and decisions as a grown adult.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Got me another car :)
Alright I bought a car; not a race car as I wished since they're expensive; the one I could afford was too little for me! Instead I got another Accord (same as my old one) but 5 years newer than the one I had. This one is a 2001 and has half of my old car mileage, it has 59K and I got a very good deal on it: I just paid $700 more than what my insurance gave me for the crashed car! So, you know what to do if you wanna upgrade your car: have it crashed or stolen!! and if you look hard enough you can find an upgrade not just a replacement :)
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