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Kurdistan chapter ends with upcoming move
6.12.2007
By Allan Collins
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December
6, 2007
Thanksgiving was the last holiday I spent in
Kurdistan 'Iraq'.
I’m going on leave soon and when I return, I’m being
moved to another part of the country where my
services are needed more than they are here.
That’s one of the downsides to being in an area like
Kurdistan. You get moved when things are going good
enough that they don’t need you anymore.
Security precludes me from saying where I’m going.
Hopefully, I can give some perspective on the rest
of the country in the new year.
I knew this day was going to come, and I’ve been
expecting it, but that does not make it any easier.
I’ve lived with the people of Kurdistan for the past
18 months.www.ekurd.net
They have welcomed me
into their homes, treated me like family. Several of
them call me their big brother. |
Allan Collins |
I’ve sat down in their
homes and eaten with them and told them all about
America, and they educated me about their country.
I’ve been there when new babies were brought into
the world and when the elderly departed it,
celebrating the beginning of one life and honoring
the end of another.
I’ve been to weddings and other celebrations of life
they have here, and I’m always humbled by the honor
they bestow on me for coming. I have never been to
an event that there were not several people thanking
me for being here, being away from my family, trying
to help them stand on their own two feet.
And for all of this, I’m thankful.
Although my time here was short, compared to how
many other Americans will have the opportunity to be
here, it was a lifetime. I have learned as much or
more than I have given.
I hope that some of the successes they have now, and
will have in the future, are partly because of
something I said that really resonated within them,www.ekurd.net
really struck a nerve,
really motivated them to try something new and
different.
I know they want the same things we want: to live
freely without fear, for their children to have a
better life than they do, to laugh and live and
enjoy life without worry — most of what we take for
granted every day.
So as this year comes to a close and another begins
so, too, will the Kurdistan chapter of my life close
and another chapter begin.
I hope that my time here will be remembered and
cherished by those whose lives I’ve touched as they
have touched mine.
muskogeephoenix com
* Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule
in part of the country. Today's teenagers are the
first generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In
the new Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as
Kurdistan region. Kurdistan region has all the
trappings of an independent state -- its own
constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its
own army, its own border, its own border patrol, its
own national anthem, its own education system, its
own International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
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