IQ Chronicles: Staying

Today's Gem:  Sitting there listening to the head of the Water Authority share with us how he lost his father, a just and principled man, during the country's darkest years.  He related how the entire family had to leave in the stealth of the night, leaving their home and most of their valuables to escape the same fate happening to them.  They went to the nearby town where they own lands as well and where they have relatives only to be turned away.  He ended his story by turning to one of our guests and saying, "Pardon me for saying this but if any of you Europeans would get to experience even 1/5th of what we've went through as a nation, I don't think you would ever survive."  It was a humbling thought and I felt grateful to have met someone who also, in all, humility simply replied, "Of course.  And rightly so."

This country have gone through so much.  Even our own local colleagues tell us of their own experiences as children IDPs, moving from one place to the next.  They shared growing up being cursed and mocked for being Kurdish.  They've lost fathers, uncles, who were brave enough to fight back.  Some of them have seen grandfathers being beaten simply because they have son/s who are members of the resistance group.

At one point in today's conversation, our visitor asked him, how despite everything that he'd been through he had chosen to stay.  The others have gone to other places, mostly to Europe, to carve out a new destiny for themselves.  What made him chose to stay and serve his country instead? His response, "I have my own life here.  It is difficult to just pack up, turn your back on everything and leave." He then added that what kind of life would he have had he left?

It was later relayed to me how everyone regard him as a kind person, treating everyone equally no matter what they are or what "tribe" they belong to.  It made me realize, goodness can never be faked.  One can only go on pretending for some time. After a while, one's true nature would always come out.  But yes, there is still so much goodness in this world despite the atrocities that is happening everywhere. They are like this little light in a sea of darkness, constant and unwavering, sending out the message of hope.  Oh and yes, of course, of love...