Reading the middle east news in the morning as usual, I was shocked to see that post. Carine Salameh, a famous anchor on a Lebanese television was hit by her husband.
All the campaigns and movements who advocate Arab women are NOT enough. The change has to start from our manners. The way the parents raise their kids and the manners that we teach our children.. This will grow up with them and stay forever.
Yes, behind every act of violence against women, parents who didn't raise their boys well. And by "well" I don't mean prepare them food and send them to good schools. Parents who reacted harshly and negatively to their kids' aggressive acts, parents who sat bad examples, parents who continued a cycle of violence and transferred it to their kids, parents who didn't stop the gender-based stereotypes, parents who spoiled their kids...
No wonder we started 2014 with "The Kindness Project in the Middle east" campaign!! We felt and touched the need for kindness, manners, morals and etiquettes in our Arab World.
Just last week, I was chatting with a lady who has a Facebook Group, more like a religious group. And I was asking to put some kindness posts on her group to encourage acts of kindness in the Middle East. Guess what she said!! Her exact reply was: "We only put religious posts". Isn't religion about morals and kindness?! Since when religion meant just prayers and sayings. Every religion started with manners and kindness.
We will not loose hope. We will continue our kindness project. Starting with 1 person, soon we will be millions.
And until we change the way we raise our children, we will still see violence and wars in our offspring.
By Heidi Shebaro
Founder of " The Kindness Project in the Middle East", a teacher and a blogger
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