yalda and bam

this year, some of us gathered around our fireplace stayed up till 3:30 in the morning and read poetry, drank turkish coffee, cracked nuts, seeded  pomegranates and ate watermelon.

we talked about so many things that night. one recurring theme however was bam's tragic earthquake one year ago and its anniversary which is today.  that friend that i just mentioned? he lost both his parents to the quake so this was particularly close to home. we talked about his memories and how they used to celebrate yalda. we said a special prayer for his parents and ate dates to honour their memory.

my friend philosophized that perhaps yalda is to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. marking the longest night of the year and rejoicing that from that night on, nights and hence darkness will be shorter.

may the spirit of the new season help heal my friend's wounds. may the light shine brightly on the hearts of the orphans who were so sadly affected by that disaster. may god bless all iranians who suffer from shortcomings of a government that does not care for them well. i will never, E V E R forget bam.

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* you may like to visit this photo gallery of a project called "a day in the life of bam".
* have a look at these reports by BBC news. There is one particularly interesting video of  ruth millington recounting her experience after revising the city.
* you can still make donations. try "action for orphans" or do a google search and find a charity you prefer. just because time has passed, it does not mean they don't need our help anymore.