DISCOURSE
New Zealand’s Maysoon defeats terrorism with a story
Dr. that life is not so safe. It had been a few years since Maysoon Salama had felt it. When stones were thrown at Al-Noor Child Care Center, where she was the manager, and hate speech once appeared in blood on her car, she shared her concerns about the impending danger with the government.
As the National Coordinator of the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand, she became aware of the growing Islamophobia around the world during her active social work within and outside the community. Maysoon, a Palestinian who immigrated to New Zealand from Jordan, had great faith in humanity. But a tragedy more cruel than nightmares befell them.
March 15, 2019 It was a Friday as usual. Son Atta Muhammad Elyan and her husband Muhammad Elyan had gone to Al Noor Mosque for prayers. But at 1.42 pm, he came to that church with a gun On the day racist terrorist Branton Harrison Tarrant opened fire, Dr. Maysoon Salama’s life turned upside down.
Dr. Maysoon Salama
Maysoon was informed of the death of his son, Atta Muhammad Elyan, who was a futsal goalie and coach of the team at a nearby boys school, a developer in the tech business, and loved by all his family and friends. She also learned that her husband was seriously injured and was in the hospital.
Years later, when talking about that day, Maysoon’s look and voice were full of trepidation. More than the pain of a mother who has lost her son, it was the look of Aya, her son’s daughter, that made Meisoon weak. Maysoon was at a loss as to what to say to her two-year-old granddaughter.
Meisoon didn’t know how to tell Aya that her most beloved father, the one who used to tell stories, laugh and tell stories, hug and give umms, will never be with her again. The faces of every child in the child care center he ran flashed into his mind. Those were the moments when I knew the depth of helplessness could hurt so much.
Ata Muhammad Elyan with his daughter Aya
‘My son’s death was a great shock to me. My husband was also injured in the attack. It was a time when I was very active in the public sphere. Many of the children in the childcare center I ran were missing their parents or loved ones.
“After the shooting, those kids were on my mind. I thought mostly about my son’s daughter, Aya. At the age of two, she lost her dearest uncle. I wondered how to tell her that her father is no longer on this earth, how to prepare her to accept that sad reality,’ said Dr. Maysoon told DoolNews.
When the child care center opened two weeks after the attack, Maysoon realized that the bullets from the March 15 attack were the most deeply embedded in the children. Most of them were children who had lost their father. Maysoon realized that she had to do something for those who couldn’t even understand the trauma they were going through.
Dr Mason told former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern and the Department of Education that more attention needs to be paid to the mental health of children who have lost loved ones. The government took those suggestions seriously and started working. But neither government departments nor health workers had much understanding of how to talk to children going through trauma..
Along with Dr. Maysoon Salama
As an educator of young children, Maysoon felt that stories were the best way to communicate anything to children. Ayak loved to sit on his grandmother’s lap and listen to stories and read. From this feeling was born a series of storybooks that initiated changes in New Zealand’s education system.
‘I am starting to write the story during the lockdown during the Covid era. Ayak was four years old then. She should have been told about her father’s death. I was teaching children about butterflies at the time. Aya was also studying these things.
“I felt that the life cycle of going through the stages of larva-pupa and becoming a butterfly was the best way to teach children about the inevitable change and how to accept it and move on. That is how the story of ‘Aya and Butterfly’ is written,’ Maysoon told DoolNews.
A passage in Aya and the Butterfly reads: ‘Aya’s uncle made this garden. The whole place was lightly greened with fresh blue plums and the salt garden was ripe. Aya misses her father very much every day. Sometimes she sees her grandmother burst into tears from the middle of the garden. Grandpa will then say that it is good to cry. ‘We have to somehow express our inner sorrow,’ Grandfather would tell Aya.’ (Translated from the English version)
From Aya and Butterfly
Social workers who saw the book said there weren’t many resource materials for children going through trauma, and these stories would be very helpful. Later, the activities developed in connection with the Department of Education and the Department of Health.
But in spite of these busy activities, the pain of losing his son will come and wrap Maysoon every now and then. Maysoon never once asked anyone in the church about her son’s last moments. Maysoon once said that while he understands the sentiment behind the government’s commemoration for the victims of the March 15, 2020 Christchurch attack, it brings back painful memories.
Every time the sense of loss filled them, they resolved themselves to do more against extremism and hatred. Maysoon presented his proposals and opinions to New Zealanders by participating in the Royal Commission and government advisory boards.
‘I was busy working. It was a very difficult time, but the way I worked that day helped me get out of trouble,’ says Maysoon.
The project started with story books to send and gradually expanded. Besides saving children from trauma, they have become a powerful weapon against terrorism.
Along with former Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern and Minister Priyanka Radhakrishnan, Dr. Maysoon Salama
In order to nip terrorism in the bud, Dr. Maysoon says.
“All terrorist attacks are rooted in fear. Terrorists have a certain fear of the culture and community they are about to attack. The first thing we investigated was where this fear comes from. We realized that they don’t know about other people’s culture, beliefs or ways of life.
All they have in front of them is untrue information put out by the media or some extremist groups. Based on that, they develop hatred and hatred towards Muslims or other sects. So we realized that awareness and education is the best solution against terrorism.
Learning and understanding others and their culture from an early age is possible to change. That is why we decided to do projects for children of that age. The new generation should grow up understanding that everyone is human even though their clothes, lifestyles and beliefs are different. Maysoon talks about the future with clarity and hope.
Several stories introducing Muslim life and culture were added to the project. Not only Meisoon, but people from different Muslim communities in New Zealand, led by the Islamic Women’s Council, came forward with stories. The government published them and made them part of the curriculum.
From the book launch event
They have already released many works. One story deals with the discrimination faced by a refugee and another story is about a child from Somalia. Another is an open day at the church. There is also a book where 13 Muslim women from different fields tell their lives. These books create confidence in Muslim children that they too are part of New Zealand. These help children from other communities learn, understand and initiate discussions about Muslim communities.
These stories are also related to various subjects such as mathematics, social studies and science, which are best suited to the current curriculum in schools. Teachers are also delighted as they also come with resource materials for activities related to each storybook.
To a tragedy that has completely taken him away, to a loss that can never be repaired
The way a woman responded with self-restraint and humanity has become the best example for counter-terrorism operations. Through short stories, Dr. Maysoon Salama is narrating in a melodious tone.
Doolnews representative Anna Kirti George told Dr. Based on an interview with Maysoon Salama
Content Highlight: Story of Dr. Maysoon Salama, Muslim woman in New Zealand who uses children stories to prevent terrorism and Islamophobia
Anna Kirti George
DullNews Sub Editor, Post Graduation in Mass Communication from Pondicherry Central University.