A True Role Model- Part 1

John Dewey said:

“We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience.”

Today you will get the opportunity to meet a person who seems to let John Dewey’s words define her. Read on to meet her.

People are a like a patchwork quilt – all of us are different but still one. We meet many unique and different people in life and if we listen closely, everyone has a story to tell.

Every time I tell my mom about someone new I’ve met she reminds me that it is not about getting influenced by other people, but it is about what you can learn from them. 

Coming back to today’s topic I want you to meet Mrs. Aruna Wellmer, if you have not heard about her then it’s time to listen.

My mom is a working professional and meets many people in her everyday work life & she always makes sure she mentions anything that she learnt that day and from whom she learnt it. Couple of months ago she mentioned Aruna and how she has made charity a very important part of her life.

She told me that Aruna had a very inspiring story and she asked if I would like to talk to her. I replied saying “You had me at inspiring story.” Curious yet? Well here is Aruna’s story:

Aruna is a very pleasant person and talking to her even just virtually put me in a very positive mood. She believes that humanity is one and we all are same and the only way that we can fight against the current crisis is by staying united. Turning against each other is only going to add up as another problem itself. So, we need to stick together if we want to overcome the problems. 

She was born in Afghanistan which she describes as the Switzerland of Asia. But she wanted to live in a place where she could be accepted herself - as Aruna. Most of all she longed to live in India. That’s where her ancestors were born and she wanted to go back to her roots and experience living in India. She longed to go to school but she wasn’t allowed to as she was a girl. When I heard it first, I wondered how was it related to gender. Everyone has a right to knowledge.

The war broke out and Afghanistan was no longer safe. She was only 9 and had to care for her little sister and two younger brothers. They were locked up in the house and they could hear the firing of guns and other weapons and it was not safe for them to leave from there either. Every day the situation got worse and all they could do was to hope for things to get better. Her father worked for the army and he would go into battlefield and would not come back for weeks together. They would not know where he was and they could not do anything but wait for him to return. Every time they heard footsteps their hopes soared up and they would run to the door hoping that he was back.

People were being kidnapped every day. One night everything changed when her father came home and asked them to pack everything they could take and that they had to leave the country immediately. So, in one night they had to pack and leave the place before anyone got to know that they were leaving. She said it was hard to leave behind friends, family, their big house and their dog Burfi. She knew that it was better to strike a compromise with her heart and only take with her the essentials that the family needed.  With a heavy heart, they left most of their possessions behind. This is what war does to people. Whether you choose to be a part of it or not, you are a part of it. Tears you apart from everything you love.

They had to walk through forests and on muddy roads and stay many times in caves. Their only means of transport were rarely cabs and often horses or other animals that they could ride. They moved around for many weeks with very little rest until they finally arrived alive at an airport.

It is quite a task to condense one’s life story into a short blog and an illustrious one like this is even more challenging. So, I am going to publish this in two parts.

The next & final part will be published on 1^st of August. Stay tuned to know what happened next, where Aruna is today and how she’s influencing lives.

Subscribe to my blog to get notified when I post it. If it is your first time on my blog, do check out my other posts. Please leave your thoughts about the story so far by leaving a comment.

Thanks for reading!

See you next time!