Freedom Diaries (Tunisia)

Dear Freedom,

Now that I lie here in my simple grave outside Sidi Bouzid-surrounded by olive trees and blossoming almond trees, I want you to know how much I longed for you. Slapped in the face and forced to the ground, just to keep my family sound. Fined without reason, as if I were committing acts of treason. Everyday i'd walk to my cart, five kilometers to the local mart, in hopes of living my dream-even though my clothes were ripping from their seams. Everyday I dreamt of change, but all I knew of change, was of the small amount I kept in my pocket caged.It was all so strange. What an unfair exchange, and so I set myself in flames. To burn away my rage and humiliation, to feel your powers in my nation. 
Oh freedom, call me Mohamed Bouazizi and remember me.


From the Soils of Tunisia

Freedom Diaries (Egypt)-Feb.11 Commemoration

Dear Freedom, 

I feel so ashamed. Everyone saw me and yet they don't know me. To the whole world I was exposed, my rallying and modesty now juxtaposed. My "abaya" ripped open and my heart as well, trampled on like the very ground to which I fell. As women and as humans we asked for equality and freedom of speech, to that they dragged us down in hopes of making them farther to reach. You can call me the "girl with the blue bra" but remember, there is more to my story that put you in awe. Oh freedom, you were my shield when I was exposed. You gave me strength to battle rules that were imposed. Maybe someday we can reunite, with hope as our light and to the mountain peaks our flight. 

Love, 

A Woman's Voice in Egypt 

Faith and Hope

The Syrian regime has killed babies. It has starved families. It has blown up mosques. What it doesn't realize however is that God is not confined to the mosques, He is in the heart of every believer. Nothing can take away the Faith of the people. And that is the strongest weapon. Marching at one of the rallies downtown side by side with my brothers and sisters, it didn't matter that I couldn't feel my hands or feet because I COULD feel something that was truly beautiful: the love in each heart that chanted for a free and peaceful Syria. And that love and determination is what will create change, InshAllah ♥