Zainab Salbi is the founder of Women for Women International. A network that provides the possibility for women of war-torn countries to develop relationships through the exchange of letters with women in the United States. These letters offer women who often go unheard in the midst of war with the opportunity to share their stories, and in effect help in the healing process post war. Salbi’s model has proven to be successful, and can be seen as a simple tool that solves the issue of post-trauma silence. I have shared a link to a video of Salbi speaking on TED. The video is lengthy, and I’ve selected two parts that seem relevant to this blog: 8:48-10:36, and 16:36-end. The first segment expresses the duality of war – those who speak at the front line and those who get lost in the back line. It is often those in the back line who have stories to share, but no listeners with whom to share them with. Salbi, with her organization, has given women a simple gift: a friend and listener. In the second segment, Salbi relates her discussion to a quote by Rumi, where he describes a meeting place for the exchange of ideas, “a field.” The field serves as a platform for dialogue, just as Salbi has provided with Women for Women. Enjoy!
