LINA

Lina answers her phone with the air of someone who is tired and forlorn. She speaks with a knowing that what I am saying is heard but really of no consequence to her. I ask her what is the matter and she answers in a monotone voice that she is feeling great sadness for her country Syria and worried about her brother and friends who are doing their compulsory army service.
Her mother is finding great difficulty affording the basics of food. The townsfolk cannot travel outside of their village for fear of being ambushed and killed. Her children's step mother has become her friend and her household is provided for.
A village has been attacked and relatives killed.
Sorrow and heartache fills the air and only broken by the laughter of innocent children delighting in their simple pleasures.
Lina writes diligently on her face book about the atrocities occurring daily in her beloved country. Her words are read by many heartbroken Syrians living in different countries and together they grieve.
When will it end ? She prays daily for her family and country.
Meanwhile she turns on the TV and listens to the world news on her local channel. She hears reports that conflict with the news from her homeland on her satellite TV.
She spends her days tirelessly typing and gathering information. Her girls miss their mother. Her mind is far away and she tires easily. The stress is taking its toll. I ask her out for coffee and she walks metres in front of me, unaware of our friendship. She is alone in her thoughts and has little to offer.
Dear Lina, my heart aches for your unhappiness because it is a sorrow carried by many during this time of war.
She cannot let this heaviness overwhelm her as her children look with longing for a mother who has left them and they wait for her return.    

IMAGINE

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

Imagine all the people
Living for today
Aha-ahh

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Yoohoo-ooh

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
Yoohoo-ooh

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


John Lennon

It is with a heavy heart that I write to give my condolences to the families of the men women and children who have been killed during the war in Syria.
In particular to the relatives of my children and their step mother who lost their lives.
Where is the peaceful country that my children grew up in ?
Why do they spend countless hours praying for the safety of their beloved grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends?
Will they ever return?
How can they help?
Why are the minds and hearts of many so narrow and closed?
Is there reliable information about Syrian affairs?  Can we make informed decisions?
When one person in this world dies senselessly does it not affect another?

 

Self portrait that was chosen to feature

on bus.

Moving Art Gallery

 

I was fortunate to have my self portrait accepted and placed

in an art book called Me Myself and I. The artworks were then

featured on the local bus travelling around the suburbs of Sydney.