Thank you.
Mary Gorton
On Friday, September 20, 2024 at 06:25:58 PM EDT, Jane McGary via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
I've just received a remarkable book from a recent visitor who manages
an NGO program for women in Afghanistan. It is "War Gardens: A journey
through conflict in search of calm," by Lalage Snow (London: Quercus,
2018). Snow, a photojournalist working in conflict areas, tells the
stories of gardeners in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, the West Bank/Occupied
Territories, and Afghanistan. It is hard to read for weeping, yet it
also lifts the spirit. Many of us know how much good gardening and
observing plants does to allay personal distress or pain. These stories
extend that understanding to parts of the world that many of us will
never experience directly. Through charities I support and plant-hunting
trips, I've been able to visit sites of present and recent conflicts,
including Iraqi Kurdistan, eastern Turkey, the former Yugoslavia,
Albania, and the northern Caucasus, and to hear local people talk about
their lives and present struggles.
People turn their thoughts to the natural world everywhere on earth, and
a deep interest in plants and admiration of flowers is pervasive. It is
human. We can reach out past the barriers of oceans and politics to
share it. And we can help people who maintain their gardens and wild
flowers in the face of war, and their families. We can support the
International Rescue Committee, Women for Women International, Doctors
without Borders, Mercy Corps, and other NGOs, and we can urge our
government to give more support to UN programs. Likely you already do:
the love of living things runs deep.
Jane McGary,Portland, Oregon, USA
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