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Inside This Issue
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MRDS Online Newsletter:
Third Quarter 2004
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Samuel is a young man in his 30s with big dreams.
His name means 'shining star' in Kurdish (Samuel is his
pseudonym, names in this article have been changed for security
reasons)-- hasn't let his dreams be limited by the muscular
dystrophy that has confined him to a worn-out wheelchair. A
writer who speaks four languages, he taught himself to type,
holding a pencil in one hand to tap out on a computer stories
that are published by local magazines and newspapers. Ten years
ago, the treatment he needs to maintain his mobility stopped
because of the political situation in Iraq and the expense. Now
he can no longer feed himself as he once could do. He and his
15-year-old brother, also severely disabled, rely on their
mother and siblings for almost all their needs. But Samuel
believes that, like Stephen Hawking, he can accomplish much
through his writing despite his disabilities. Samuel never
attended school but was taught at home by his parents. A
voracious reader, he absorbed books on economics, history and
politics as well as on philosophy and poetry. |
"I'm more than 30 years old; I'm hopeless. Maybe my brother has
a chance."
Dr. Brown, an MRDS physical therapist, says
Samuel's situation is common in Iraq. "There is a huge need for
physical therapy in Iraq, but most Iraqi healthcare
professionals are unaware of the advancements made in the
profession during the time Saddam Hussein was in power," Brown
said. Those suffering from congenital conditions must compete
with the tens of thousands of Iraqis who are casualties of land
mines or were victimized under Saddam's brutal regime for the
limited medical care that is available. As a medical coordinator
for Millennium, Brown is seeking funds to create an association
of local and international physical therapists to improve Iraq's
educational and clinical standards, which are well below
international standards. He has already begun a collaborative
effort among international aid agencies working in
rehabilitation to organize training and improve the standard of
education. Most recently, he has been working with a Dutch
physiotherapist in training local physiotherapists and
physiotherapy students on complex cases. Samuel hopes that
treatment for the disabled will improve soon in his country.
"I'm more than 30 years old; I'm hopeless. Maybe my brother has
a chance." Support Physical Therapy Programs in Iraq |
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Zamira, one of three Tajik teachers, smiling for the camera
during presentations.
For nine Central Asian teachers coming to America
for the first time, the excitement of learning new teaching
methods was tempered by anxiety about spending one month
immersed in a foreign environment thousands of miles from home.
Twenty eight Houston area families reduced concerns and made
them feel more comfortable in new surroundings. Host families
"cared about me like I was their daughter," Galina Aibusheva
said. Host families are critical to the success of the
international teachers program, which just completed its sixth
year. |
Hosts represent a mix of ages, backgrounds and
ethnicities to provide teachers with an understanding of
America's diversity. Teachers and hosts found much to share with
each other, whether child rearing techniques, celebration of
holidays or favorite foods.
Hosts David and Amy McCarty enjoyed the experience of seeing
their Uzbek teacher "overcome her fears and anxieties about
coming to America and sensing the joy and gratitude she
expressed to us. We are challenged and enriched by the
opportunity to share our lives and culture to someone from so
far away." Alan and Claudia Stewart hosted Zamira Unusova from
Tajikistan, who was very "shy when she first came, but by the
end of the week had opened up so much. We learned as much as she
did about each other's home life." Box: For information on
hosting a teacher in 2005, contact Millennium at
tprogram@mrds.org or at
713 961 5645. |
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Young girls in Northern Afghanistan watch with anticipation the
construction of their new school. Four villages of different
ethnic backgrounds put aside past animosities to work together
so their children could receive an education. The school now has
450 students, including 180 girls, enrolled in classes. This
fall, their brand new school building will be completed, thanks
to the generosity of hundreds of donors to the Journey with an
Afghan School Project Donate to Afghanistan Schools |
Two young girls eagerly await completion of their new school.
Two years ago, no girls were in school in their villages. Now,
180 girls and 450 boys will attend school in the new building.
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President's Letter:
Putting the Blown Up Bits Together
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Nineteen hundred years ago Plutarch observed that
the recounting of virtuous acts inspired in others a desire to
act virtuously. He recorded the lives of famous men to
demonstrate great deeds that others might aspire to similar
actions. Since Jean Jacques Rousseau and The Age of
Enlightenment, two hundred fifty years ago, man has been
expected to be virtuous not through virtuous acts but because he
is born that way. Today, news displays the worst in human
nature, regaling daily acts of malice and violence. A parade of
hostages lives and dies before the eyes of cameras. Terrorists
in Beslan Russia most recently defined deviance downward again:
targeting and torturing children for their ends, timing their
attack on the first day of school to catch maximum numbers.
Terrorism is becoming a habit for groups with political
grievances. In Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the virtuous Dr. Jekyll is overpowered by
his evil side, in the form of Mr. Hyde. Eventually the naturally
occurring ten percent of evil ends up as 100 percent. Can
Stevenson's analogy be applied to groups of people? Individuals'
actions are bounded by social constraints. What is the social
tolerance for acts of terrorism? It appears increasingly to
vary. Suicide bombers who murder innocents in the Near East are
alternately condemned and lauded.
Stevenson illustrated in his novel that through the practice of
evil deeds, one becomes evil. William James said: Sow an action,
you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a
character and you reap a destiny. The preponderance of people in
Iraq, Afghanistan and other dismal places are weary of decades
of violence and despotism. They long for a new way to live.
Millennium finds itself helping to put the blown up bits back
together. After the explosions we attempt to show another way.
We believe that compassion is more powerful than violence. We
believe sowing compassionate actions will reap a different
destiny. |
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