'To Bless All Mankind' November 7, 2016 Issue

Adaptation and bouncing forward

John Yemma

Adapted from an article published in The Christian Science Monitor, May 9, 2016.

News can seem to be a nonstop narrative of tragedies and victims: an unceasing flow of children, women, and men routed by war, fleeing drought, epidemics, terrorists, repression. These victims need urgent help—first aid, food, shelter, recovery assistance, developmental know-how.

But while there will always be new tragedies and new victims, most of today’s victims will recover, rebuild, and get on with life. Everyone has ancestors who were dealt a blow. Even if some never quite shook off traumatic memories, most recovered, adapted, and went on with their lives. Their children were born in hope. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren rarely know the privations they faced.

See, for instance, the May 9, 2016, Monitor Weekly for a cover story featuring Shahzad Haidari, a young Afghan whose harrowing trek has taken him far from his homeland. Like millions of people in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, he has been a victim; in his case, the Taliban were his oppressor. Shahzad is from Generation 1 of today’s wave of refugees. His story is about endurance and adaptation.

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