REPORT ON KURDISTAN

In my wildest dreams I had never expected to find myself en route to the Middle East, especially Iraq, and yet here I was alone on my way to Amman where I would meet up with the rest of the Delegation for the Culture of Life who were coming from the United States of America.

As the lone Australian I had plenty of time to think during that twenty-four hour journey from Dayboro, Australia to Amman.  Until recently Erbil, Kurdistan was just a name to me and I had no idea what to expect when we arrived and I was so thankful that I didn’t have to do the last piece of the journey alone, arriving in a foreign land I knew nothing about with news reports of wars and bombings the only information I had.  What a relief when the team arrived from America one hour after I landed in Amman.  Several members of the team I had travelled with before, but most were unknown to me except by name and qualifications.  I was a little overwhelmed with the company I was in but as time passed I found them to be the most amazing and friendly group I had ever been blessed to travel with.  We were a mixture of Christian, Muslim and Secular Humanist.
The delegation included a delightful Iranian-Kurd named Soraya Fallah who is President of World’s Women For Life and now living in the USA and a famous award winning English journalist, Dan Wooding who was travelling with us to document our visit to Iraq.  Of course as an Aussie and a Pom Dan and I settled into a friendly rivalry as our cricket teams were currently engaged in a battle for “The Ashes”.  Sadly they won this time, but it was one of the few.  The team was later joined by another Iranian woman and a man from Jordan who was a friend of one of the other team members.  Several of the twenty-one member team arrived later and one of those was Dr. David Kazzaz, an Iraqi born Jewish Psychiatrist, now living in America, who wrote the “Life Manifesto:  A Guide to a Safer World”.  This is why we were in Erbil, Kurdistan, to launch the first chapter of World’s Women For Life in a place that had chosen to follow and promote a culture of life in spite of the horrors and the genocide that had been perpetrated against them.  What a humbling experience this was to be amongst a people who could forgive so much and who had made a choice to get on with life instead of wallowing in bitterness and engaging in retaliation.  Everywhere we went we met with officials who were determined to take this amazing country forward and who were living examples of the motto of WWFL; “To protect Life, To improve life, To celebrate life.”  Of course there is still a long way to go to change a culture of centuries, but being headed in the right direction is a wonderful start.
Our first major challenge greeted us at Erbil airport when we arrived but our luggage didn’t.  We were so tired after our long flights and arriving in Irbil at 3.00 a.m. that we accepted the explanation that the plane was overloaded and our bags would arrive on the next flight in 24 hours.  How good it was to climb into beds prepared for us in the women’s dormitory of the University of Salahadin where we were being hosted by the Minister for Higher Education of Kurdistan, Dr. Idris Hadi Salih.  Having no clothes or toiletries was a problem but we expected this to be short term.  Next day we were delighted to hear that our bags had arrived only to have our hopes dashed as we searched through them to find two still unaccounted for, mine and one of the American delegates, Pam and also one box of Sharon’s who was moving to Kurdistan for one year.  This created a problem as we had meetings scheduled with high ranking officials from the Kurdistan parliament and it wasn’t good protocol to turn up in our casual travelling clothes.  Thankfully I wore a skirt and top to travel in and had one other in my carry-on, which allowed me to wash one and wear one.  I was even able to lend another team member my freshly laundered outfit.  Each morning we hoped, but none of the missing items ever turned up in spite of searches at the airport.  We finally managed to do some shopping on the third day.  Yeah! a toothbrush at last and clean underwear.  As most of our meetings were with important dignitaries it was necessary to have acceptable clothing so eventually Pam and I were taken shopping by none other than the former Minister for Higher Education in the Iraqi government who was now the advisor to the Minister of Higher Education in Kurdistan.  What a privilege and an honor and what a delightful, warm and friendly woman Dr. Beriwan was.
Our first meeting was with the Head of Parliament, the President of the Kurdish Assembly of Iraq, Mr. Adnan Mufti and Vice-President Dr. Kamal Kerkuki at the parliament building in Erbil.  There were also several other cabinet ministers present during our audience.  From the beginning we were treated with such friendliness and honor everywhere we went and I began to realize the importance of what we were there to do and what it meant to this amazing country to have support for the stand they had taken and for what they were trying to do, especially in the area of Women’s Rights.  Many times I found myself in tears and awe as we listened to government officials outlining their plan for the future.  They could teach the “West” a thing or two about Human Rights and particularly those of women.  We also met many brave NGOs who are at the frontline bringing about the changes at a grassroots level. One of the NGOs we met who was involved with saving women who were threatened with “honour killing” was the mother of the Vice-President of the central Iraqi government.  She was an amazing woman and so were those she worked with.  Often it is frustrating for them as culture changes slowly, but they keep going, often in difficult situations, to keep the momentum moving forward.  We had audiences with the governors of four cities as well as presidents of universities all of whom promoted the culture of life.  Everywhere we went we were followed by newspaper photographers and TV cameras and found ourselves with celebrity status appearing on the news almost every night and in the newspapers.  As we walked the streets and caught taxis we would be recognized and people would tell us they had seen us on TV.  One of the highlights for our team was to meet the first judge who presided in Saddam’s trial.  He was a delightful and gentle man and we were able to meet with him at a dinner given in our honour.
Although most of our days were spent meeting with officials and NGOs, we also took time out to visit places of major historical interest.  We were so thankful for the comfortable air-conditioned bus and driver that had been provided for us and Dr. Saman Shali, one of the founders of WWFL, who had made it all happen and who travelled with us most of the time to explain what we were seeing and hearing.  The first trip we took was to Halabja where Sadam Hussein had used chemical warfare to annihilate the entire village.  What we saw and heard was horrendous and most of us spent the time in tears as we watched what had been done and the world had heard so little about.  I think that was the thing that made me so angry – that we had been told so little of what was being done as the people were considered expendable and hated by Saddam.  The horrors caused us to grieve but the lack of information made us angry.  It was impossible not to feel the pain of the two survivors we met who had lost all their loved ones and who had suffered such physical and psychological trauma.  What we saw at that memorial and cemetery in that village will be imprinted on my mind and heart forever.  Over 4500 villages were destroyed by Saddam Hussein with 182,000 losing their lives in Iraqi-Kurdistan alone just because they were Kurds.  Another 3500 villages have been destroyed in Turkey with others in Iran and Syria whose numbers I don’t know.
The other area we visited that caused us reverent grief was Barzan where all the males over 14 years were taken away, shot and dumped in mass graves spread throughout the country in the south.  There is still enormous pain caused by the remains of loved ones having never been found.  Of the 8000 killed only about 520 have been identified and only about 1200 [if I remember correctly] have even been found.  A cemetery has been prepared for their return and the people have no intention of giving up the search for family and friends.  One of the difficulties is the widows who can never remarry because there is no proof of death, which places them in financial difficulty.  There are also no men for other younger women to marry.  We were given a private showing of a film called “All My Mothers”, which is the story of these women and had the opportunity to meet the producer and director of the film.  It was very moving as we watched the hard work and broken hearts of these women, some of whom had never given up hope of their loved ones returning.  Many had lost husbands and sons as well as homes and their pain was palpable.  In spite of the pain of these villages there is also a sense of hope as they move forward into life and the rebuilding of their shattered dreams.  Their resilience is amazing and we could only stand in awe of these people who had lived through situations we had never had to face and please God, never will.
How privileged I feel to have been able to meet with this amazing people group who have managed to maintain and promote a culture of life while being surrounded by such a culture of death.  It is an honor to be sent by them as an ambassador back to my own country to tell any who will listen of their desire to promote and protect life in defiance of their pain and the horrendous things they have had to endure and still do in many places.  It has also been a privilege to work with the World’s Women For Life team.  Each one of them in their own way has been a blessing to me and has taught me so much that I will take home with me.  The conference itself was amazing with gifted speakers filled with such passion to see women take their place in teaching the next generation about life and love in place of death and hatred.  It will be exciting to watch as these seeds take root and grow and it is my prayer that what has been planted will spread over all the earth.  I hope that I can play a part in the future growth of this movement and I hope I can revisit this incredible country as it moves further down the track of life trusting that they will take care and water the seeds.
On our way home some of us took three days off in Jordan to visit Petra, Madaba and Mt. Nebo.  How awesome it was to walk in the path of Moses and to see the things he saw.  Petra was amazing and I look forward to going back there with my husband Neil.
Look us up on the World’s Women For Life (WWFL) website:
www.wwfl.org
Dr. Lyn Richardson
Australia