Some hopeful, helpful quotes . By Anne Booth

 The news is terrible. I follow Dr Waheed Arian on Twitter (@DrWaheedArian). 

 He is an amazing person who came to Britain from Afghanistan as an unaccompanied child refugee and is now an NHS doctor who has worked throughout the pandemic. He has also written a book about his experiences, and has set up a charity. I recommend you following him. This is an interview with him I read this week, such an awful week for Afghanistan and for the world:

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2021/08/19/celebrated-british-afghan-nhs-doctor-calls-for-compassion-for-new-refugees/

 I was very struck by this tweet:

Dr Waheed Arian 

@DrWaheedArian

·

6h

I get asked a very difficult question - 'is there any hope in Afghanistan?' No one knows the future and our past traumatic experiences haunt us badly but I can't let go of 'hope', which has helped me survive. I want others not to give up on it too.

I was thinking again of a story by Frank Cottrell Boyce about the role of children's books in keeping hope going in terrible situations - he talks about interviewing a Roma woman called Mariella Mehr:

'She had grown up in Switzerland where - shockingly - Roma children were taken away from their parents on the thinnest of pretexts, then brought up in institutions where, supposedly, they would have a better chance of becoming valuable Swiss citizens. Mariella had been in thirteen different institutions, narrowly missed a lobotomy and had her own child confiscated. Yet when I met her she was an articulate, charming, outward-looking politically active, distinguished writer. I asked her about all that rebellion, the repeated expulsions … I asked her … how did you know there was something to rebel for? How did you know - growing up in this regimented institution where you were defined entirely by race - how did you know you were worth more? And she said said something I have never forgotten … it’s the thing that made me want to be a children’s writer … she said, I read Heidi.'

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/15/frank-cottrell-boyce-proms-lecture-what-point-culture-in-brexit-britain

 

When looking for this quote from Frank Cottrell Boyce ( who is  @frankcottrell_b  on Twitter)  I also came across this blog post by Andrew Wille, also quoting from Frank Cottrell Boyce, and with additional thoughts  which are also, I think, very inspiring for writers:

https://wille.org/tag/frank-cottrell-boyce/

There is so much suffering in the world, and as human beings we must do all we can to alleviate it, but we can only do so much, personally, in our families, locally, nationally and internationally. It is easy to get overwhelmed by so much pain,  and fear that there is nothing we can do, and then despair, and do nothing. I read this following post this week, and felt very helped by it. I shared it on twitter and facebook, where people told me they also found it very helpful, so I  will share it again now. I am very grateful to   Nadia Boltz-Weber  @Sarcasticluther for writing it  

https://thecorners.substack.com/p/if-you-cant-take-in-anymore-theres

I love what she says about mercy, recognising our limitations and supporting,  not judging each other. I think this is especially applicable online, when I think people forget that the people we tweet to have backstories and offline lives that nobody knows about. We don't need to pile on pressure.

I know I am not temperamentally or intellectually suitable to be an NHS doctor, or activist, or politician. I did feel seriously overwhelmed by anxiety and helplessness and guilt about all the issues and problems in the news at the moment and the urgent need  to fix them, but I think trying to keep off/cut down on social media and to use my energy to do what I CAN do has brought me more peace and focus. I want to support all those people working in areas I am not - give money when I can, pray for them, RT and share posts, sign petitions and educate myself - and in turn I must work as hard as I can on things I CAN do.

 We live in a world which is full of suffering but also full of love. I want to do my best to write books which will give hope and comfort and cheer to children and adults living in this world, just as I feel so helped by the people who write the books I read or scripts for the films I watch.  Writing is my job, and all I can do is to try to do that to the best of my ability. For all of us, in order to be able to do the job we are called to do, means looking after our mental and physical and spiritual  health,  praying if we pray, taking time off to relax, having enough sleep, eating and exercising properly, spending time with people we love and who love us, allowing ourselves to be happy, and deciding to not get overwhelmed by social media.

 I hope all the children's writers, (and anyone else reading this who is trying to use their talents to the best of their ability, and to do whatever job they can do to make the world, which is in such a state,  better, wherever they are,) can feel and do the same. 

I recommend reading these articles I have linked to if you need inspiration. Lastly, and obviously,  as writers, like anyone else, we can also donate to organisations on the ground  like the Red Cross, and Safe Passage here,  and ask our government to do more for refugees, and support local initiatives in whatever way we can.