"Obama...Egypt...Zayne!" said our taxi driver with a big toothy grin the day after Obama's speech on American-Muslim relations in Cairo, Egypt.
("Zayne" is the Hassaniya word for "good")
Yes, I agree. And yet, there is still a long way to go. Al Jazeera reports that a recent survey showed only 20% of Americans have a positive view of the Muslim world, with 46% holding a negative view.
Many Mauritanians I know do not understand this, because in their eyes, violent extremist Muslims are very different from who they are. They do not understand why Americans lump them all together into one group.
However, for many Americans who don't have daily contact with Muslims, it's difficult to see beyond the news coverage and atrocities carried out by extremist groups. So...that's why I'm here to offer another perspective.
My current coworkers, teachers, students and friends here in Mauritania are all Muslim. They help me. They protect me. They laugh with me. They teach me. They learn from me. They share with me. They are gentle, kind, peaceful, funny, serious, reverent, and just like you and me in many, many ways.
06 June 2009
A New Beginning
Posted by Katie at 3:04 AM
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2 comments:
LOVE this post, Katie. Thank you!!!
What a beautiful picture Katie. I am very excited to be coming to see you and Mike in Aug. but when I see pictures of you and your fellow workers and friends it makes me wish we were coming to Nouadhibou to be able to actually see you in motion there with what you are doing and with whom. We have Mikes B/D marked on the calendar. It will have been a year since we saw you off at MCI. Love you both so very much. Your Mother-in-law
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