A Lot More Than I Bargained For

By Captainelog
Monday, December 22, 2014

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This all started when I was seeing and hearing stuff about the Islamic religion. Bad stuff that was hard to believe and I just had to do my own research in order to find some truths that I could substantiate. The Quran says this and the Quran says that, so I went online and began to read the Quran. It’s a long book and I needed to make some sense of it, so my next step would be to talk to a Muslim who is practicing Islam. I don’t know any Muslims. What could I do? Think. Maybe my good friend Bill Browne, who lives in the Twin Cities, can help me…A couple of text messages back and forth and he had someone who agreed to talk with me. Awesome! Little did I know how awesome our conversation would be.

Having lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant was the vehicle for our conversation and another learning experience to boot. You order these plates of food which comes on a spongy bread. Sit on your left hand, because I’m left-handed, and only eat with your right hand. No, really, eat only with your right hand. No utensils, just tear off some bread, wrap it around some goodness and eat. A nice way to eat and it is delicious

This is Haweya. After short introductions, I asked the question, “What’s your story?” I don’t feel comfortable sharing her entire story without permission, and I fear I might get some of it wrong so I will give you some highlights. Born in Somalia, her father was Somali and her mother was from Kenya. She moved to Kenya when she was very young, and came to the United States when she was about 10 years old.

Her story, including the parts I’ve left out for the reasons stated above, was more than amazing. I sat thinking I wouldn’t have to ask anything about Islam because her story was so inspirational and I didn’t need any more information than that. I just couldn’t relate to her journey, from birth to our lunch in the Twin Cities. My journey wasn’t anything like what she had to go through. Wow! Bill and I sat on the edge of our bench seats as she told us her story.

Graduated from High School, I think she got a full scholarship to college, and graduated as a respiratory therapist. Just like Bill and I, she’s a United States citizen. Works at the same hospital as Bill along with another job as a teacher. It only takes a second to see that she’s bright, articulate, thoughtful, hard-working, and a delight to be around. Yes, you can see all of this in a few seconds.

This is how Bill and I sat while listening to Haweya’s story and the answers to our questions. We talked about a lot of things, some topics were, peace, the American Dream, color, discrimination, and myths concerning Islam. Yes we did talk about Islam.

There was so much we talked about that mattered, and it’s hard to put it all down in a blog post. Here are a few of my thoughts:

September 11th, the media and our politicians changed our view of Muslims and we bought in to their spin on the story. Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 and the attack killed 168 people and injured over 600. McVeigh was raised a Catholic. Did we label Catholics as terrorists? No, but Muslims are? This just isn’t true. Once again points to my question of, “Why are we so mean to one another?”

I think about her story and the children that are being sent to America without their parents by their parents from south of our border. We’ve made this country, the land of the free and the home of the brave. We’ve made this country the land of opportunity, and that’s still true to this day. We are all immigrants, except for the Native Americans, so why are we so against others coming to our country for the same reasons our relatives came here? If you are a parent, think about this… How bad would it have to be in order for you to send your young child to another country alone without you? I just can’t wrap my head around this thought process, but it must be really bad.

We talked about skin color. Sitting here writing this I glanced at our dog laying at my feet. She’s a Chocolate Lab. Labs come in several colors, black, yellow, and chocolate. I’ve had blacks and chocolates, and my good friend Bob has had yellows. It’s only a color. They are all Labrador Retrievers, and they all act the same. We don’t label them smarter, more athletic, mean or gentle, by their color. We are all human beings. Why do we label each other by color?

As many of you know, I have had lots of great conversations and visits with a lot of diverse people. I am trying to find truths and listen to stories as I travel my path into the future, but this one I didn’t see coming. I thought it would be about religion and Islam, but I got a lot more than I bargained for. This was one of the most inspiring, educational, interesting, and thoughtful conversations I’ve ever had. One of my quests on this trip was to find out what Bill and I could do to change the world, and the trip and conversation with Haweya changed me.

This time, being the only one in America that doesn’t have a reality TV show, we missed the boat. I wish our conversation and visit would have been video taped. So much to share, so much to learn from her experience, that the video would have most likely gone viral. She has invited me to return and spend a whole day walking in her shoes, experiencing first hand what she has to endure on a daily basis. If I can ride along with Police Officer Parshall, I can walk along with Haweya. I am going to take her up on her offer.

Here is a video she recommended on Islam. I watched it and I think you should too.
6 Things about Islam that everyone has to know!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq4y_qo6ciY

My quest to change the world is still real and if we move one grain of sand at a time, eventually we will have moved the entire pile. I will take what I learned from Haweya and share it with others in hope that I can change just one person’s mind or life. She is only a white picket fence away from living the total American dream, and I am only a thousand questions away from knowing anything. I hope she gets that fence, and I hope to get more answers. Haweya, thank you.

I do like chocolate, and have a nice day!
Captain

PS Bill, thanks to you too for setting this up. I might need a place to stay when I return to walk in her shoes.

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