Through the Lens
Halima
“Strength and perseverance, qualities only found in select people that inhabit this world.”
I was in the midst of walking through Wadi Musa when I was stopped by a little boy asking me to buy a postcard. Now usually I don’t pay any mind to the enticing merchants trying to sell me things, but when the young boy offered me some tea as is most common throughout these parts, I couldn’t resist so I joined him on the floor inside his tent. A woman was sitting peacefully in the corner flipping through some more postcards. I took a seat when she sat up and began to approach me. With my hand pressed tightly on my heart, I gave her a soothing “Salam.” She nodded and began to pour the tea. In that moment I had no idea who was serving me. In that moment I had no idea that I was about to hear a story that would forever change my life.
It was here that I met Halima, the Bedouin grandmother who journeyed thousands of miles through harsh deserts and foreign lands in search of a new life. Maybe it was the texture of her face, the softness of her eyes. I knew there was a story that lurked behind them and with the young boy as my translator, I began to learn the beautiful story of Halima.
Halima was born in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. She spent the majority of her life in a small village on the outskirts of the city raising a family of two daughters and one son. Their family was beautiful, picturesque in a way, however everything changed as her son, Ibrahim and daughter, Fatima unfortunately died in a car accident on their way home one night. Halima’s heart was filled with grief. Sadness encompassed her. Home wasn’t home anymore as it only served as a constant reminder of what she had lost. The pain of losing a child is incomparable and it is easy to fall prey to that sadness, that looming feeling of grief that makes you want to give up.
The pain for Halima was truly great and that festering feeling of grief became too great for her, so Halima and her youngest daughter, Aisha began to make their way to Jordan in search of a new life. Crossing through desert and plains they soon arrived in the costal city of Aqaba. It was here that Halima was blessed with her two beautiful grandchildren. One, a boy named Ibrahim after his late uncle and the other Fatima after her late aunt.
“It was here that Halima was blessed with her two beautiful grandchildren.”
Halima’s heart grew as she welcomed her beautiful grandchildren into the world, though happiness is not forever. Lightening doesn’t strike twice they say, yet once again Halima was feeling the insurmountable pain of losing her last daughter during the birth of Ibrahim. Halima now held two beautiful grandchildren and no one to raise them.
There was no father, no mother, no one else to look after them so she took it upon herself to provide the best life for them. Every other week when work is slow in Aqaba, her and her family travel up to wadi musa in an attempt to find extra work selling souvenirs to nearby travelers.
Halima to this day fights and works hard so that her beautiful grandchildren don’t have to see the struggles she endured in her lifetime. She is the true embodiment of strength and courage and may her story be the inspiration that we are all seeking.