Helina Blogs

Hello everyone, It saddens me that we have not reconnected in little over a month. I have loads to fill you guys in with.  First of all I got selected by the Vice President of the University to direct the postgraduate studies at my University under his supervision.  Also the university granted me a beautiful house so I have been busy moving my stuff.   The freshmen or the freshies, which I like to call them by, have finally started classes.  I am their academic adviser so I am hearing exciting stories from each and everyone of them. They have so much to share.  I like to commit this blog to my first year dental students, also known as the ducks or the freshies.  I remember when I first started college, I really did not know what to expect in my first day of school.  I remember I was assigned an old sister, where she was to guide me and be there for me whenever I had a concern about a school related matter.  As for Kurdistan, the story is a ...

God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be. So he put his arms around you  and whispered, "Come to Me". With tearful eyes we watched you  and saw you pass away. And although we love you dearly, we could not make you stay A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best. Is been two months since dad passed away.  I find myself thinking a bit about how losing him has affected my life in good and bad ways.   The good being my continuing in the field of academia, doing something I love each and every day and learning to live life to its fullest at all times. The bad being I find myself detaching from people I love because I think it may be easier if I lose them as well. I avoid looking at photographs or listening to songs that spark certain memories because I only get angry or sad.  I often feel cheated and lonely so I try to fill the void with things that may not be good...

The cutest creature, Lady Beetle :) I let her have an enjoyable walk on my fingers before flying away  Hello Hello wonderful creatures.  I just want to start the blog by disclosing how much I adore each and everyone of you guys.  For this particular reason, I decided to enrich each one of you with a blog post encompassing peace.  Why this topic in particular?  Well, here is the mystery.  I came across this amazing quote by Francesco Petrarch, “Five great enemies to peace inhabit with us:  avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride.  If those enemies were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace."  So I was hanging out with a very close friend of mine in Shaqlawa facing the spectacular view of Safeen.  We talked a lot about life and the changes we have gone through as we made the move to live in Kurdistan. We were both feeling at peace for the 4 hours that we faced the beautiful mountain...we discussed how we could ...

Venice is beautiful!! It is renowned for the beauty of its architecture, its setting and its artwork.  Walking down one of the side streets, with the canal on one side and different coloured houses on the other, eating gelaré under the Italian sun .. magic !!! The food  is delicious. I think Venice is a must- see. The only drawback is that it is completely over-run by tourists .. they are everywhere! The Venice tourist tends to wear safari- like pants, bucket hats and show off their seriously sunburnt faces with pride. Usually the tourist has a camera slung around their neck and bum bag strapped to their sweaty t-shirt. They gather in groups and marvel at the Italian sights saying things like ‘Wow, you don’t see things like this in America’. The longer the tourist stays in the foreign habitat the more bossy they become and want to instruct other tourists on the ‘Venetian way’ which in reality they have absolutely no clue about. The markets are so much fun and the views from t...

My favorite car :)

Good morning, afternoon or evening depending on what part of the world this blog may find you.  I am on a train towards Heidelberg, which is located south of Germany and it is 7:19am.  I plan on arriving Heidelberg in 6 hours.  I spent little over 2 days in Berlin and one day in Potsdam.  The stay was awesome and I learnt so much. The Wall fell in 1989 reuniting the two halves of the city that had stayed separated for decades. What remains now are the last vestiges of the infamous fortification and memories of those who died attempting to cross it. What can I tell you about Germany?  Well I am still in German ground and I plan to stay for two more days in Heidelberg and Baden Baden. I think the only thing I would ask the Germans to do is to smile a bit more.  I have traveled to Europe before and this trip counts as my fourth time stopping by Europe.  Germany is one of the only European countries that I struggled the most finding my way around....

Too many of the world’s children are out of school or receive spotty educations, each of which has dreams that may never be fulfilled or potential that may never be realized. By ensuring that every child has equal access to quality learning, we automatically lay the foundation for a healthy growth, transformation, innovation, opportunity and equality.  Whether in times of crisis or periods of peace, in cities or remote villages, we have to commit ourselves into realizing a fundamental and a non-negotiable goal: quality education for all.  Education is a fundamental human right: Every child is entitled to it. It is critical to our development as individuals and as societies, and it helps pave the way to a successful and productive future. When we ensure that children have access to a rights-based, quality education that is rooted in gender equality, we create a "ripple-effect" of opportunity that impacts many generations to come. Helping a child learn is equ...