All For One And One For All

I have been on a night flight to the Middle East very recently, now the interesting thing to note with business travels is that I don’t sleep in planes and while some of my neighbours fall deeply asleep I get to use the time to write, read or watch movies. Not sure if that is due to the altitude but my mind seems to navigate and wander in interesting emotional territories on those journeys. On this particular flight I was spoiled for choice and I ended up watching 3 movies in a row that night.   

The Martian was the first one. I always loved exploration books and adventures that pushed the boundaries. I also think Matt Damon has the likability factor and gosh does his character not need to be resourceful being stuck on a hostile planet with very little hope for a positive outcome. How admirable is it when the crew who left him behind make the decision to turn back and operationalize a last chance rescue attempt, how encouraging is it to see the planet earth so focused on the destiny of one of their own, I thought this was a very reassuring message and I guess when the movie ended we were probably somewhere above Macedonia. 

Burnt is a movie in which Bradley Copper’s character wants to run the best restaurant in the world. A story of fear, ego and bad habits fed by the ghosts of his own past. To be successful the ex-two Michelin star chef has to assemble a team that is more than just excellent, together they will have to give it all, in the end Adam Jones realizes that there is more than drive, recognition and reach for perfection in life, people too are important. Once he realizes this a different Adam rises to life, not a better but a greater Adam who finally understood not to expect the best from fellow kitchen mates if you only assign blame. 

Walk in The Woods  Bill Bryson played by Robert Redford is looking for adventure and is teaming up with Nick Nolte on walking the Appalachian Trail. The two friends have not kept in touch for a long time but both are on a personal quest that will require to be working together and acknowledging physical strength and mental boundaries. The obstacles and challenges thrown at them thru the trail push them deep in their respective danger zone and they have to look after each other like no others have done for them before. They even thought about giving it up altogether when they were at their lowest point but digging deep they overcome the obstacles and become a better version of themselves. 

In a way I thought there was a commonality about all those films with themes such as help, solidarity, team work, camaraderie and humanist ethos. All for One and One for All I thought, how brilliant was all this!! Maybe I had developed some form of travel euphoria or I don’t know what it was but damn I felt super right about this, an epiphany, an eureka moment I am telling you, in the end I promised myself I should watch this old version of the Three Musketeers I loved so much very soon. I felt very good indeed when I asked the charming and courteous air hostess for a coffee refill…… 

AT THE SAME TIME 10 000 METRES BELOW OUR COMFORTABLE FLIGHT    

Kathem is an eight-year-old boy from Iraq. Since he lost his parents and sisters at sea, he has found himself stuck at the Macedonian border. As far as he is concerned he would be a Martian that would not make any difference, nobody cares about him, he has been surviving on UN rations and food he has stolen from other refugees. The future is bleak; his night dreams are always fuelled by the sound of his sister screaming for help seconds before she drowned, another night vision he has is the sheer mask of horror his mother had on her face when she realized that the doomed dinghy was about to sink. When he wakes up Kathem craves for comfort and reassurance but he knows he is a powerless actor in one of the worst human nightmare. 

Aaqila is 14 year old, she has dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. 4 days ago after trying to escape, she was burnt and raped by the traffickers that got hold of her That would teach you a lesson they said, they said she would be shipped over to Norway probably ending up in under aged brothel. How far is this from Kabul, how far is this from what her parents and brothers escaped for, but they are dead now and thank Allah for taking them under his wings and sparing them the worries…. shame on her unscrupulous uncle who sold her in order to gain his own passage to Germany. 

It's not a f**#ing Walk In The Woods for Adar, the 11-year-old Syrian mum’s died when he was born and he lost his dad back in Syria 14 months ago, as it that was not enough he got separated from his 19 year old brother in Greece at a triage point after the ship he was travelling on sank with all the 110 passengers on board. They got rescued by the local coast guards and Adar had been on his own for 3 weeks until one of those south European gangs captured him and agreed with a clandestine textile factory to send him over to Turkey as cheap labour.   

Besides food, the Unicef is doing its best to help the millions of children victim of displacements by providing some psychologic help, schooling support, writing and reading lessons alongside various teaching mechanisms.

In a very a twisted spell of fate the beneficiaries also sometimes referred to as ''the lost generation'' would actually be the lucky ones, the organization also reckons that between 5 000 to 10 000 children under the age of 16 have simply disappeared after reaching European shores in the last few years…… they are called Adar, Aaqila or Kathem. 

As a father I have huge difficulty to accept that our western society has just given up on those kids as if they had never existed, it is unacceptable in my opinion that we allow them to become the forgotten children. 

Most of them have already suffered irreversible mental traumas let alone having had their childhood been robbed from them. So what can we do if we cannot  save all of them, maybe we cannot save 10 of them, maybe we cannot save 5 of them but if you were asked would you be ready to do your absolute all for 

ONE

 Donate: https://www.unicef.org/

Sources

Unicef

Radio Television Suisse

Photo Credits

Joeburrdige.com /3 Musketeers sword drawing