By Bonnie James
“Dear Mom, This is the first time I am writing you a letter since you died. It is hard to remember that you are not with me,” the opening lines of Qatari girl Hissa al-Marri’s ‘free writing’ piece caused a sudden hush to fall over the audience.
When the youngster poured her heart out, describing how deeply she is missing her mother, who was her best friend, how lonely she felt at her graduation day, and that she is trying to be strong always like her mother, the listeners sat with rapt attention.
By the time Hissa finished reading, at the launch event of ‘Writing as Self-Discovery’ at the women’s campus of Qatar University (QU) yesterday, there were several moist eyes in the audience.
The Mass Communication graduate’s ‘letter to her mother’, who passed away in 2006, was an excellent example of the inherent talent hidden in everyone to do ‘free writing,’ described as writing spontaneously.
Hissa, who is now working for QU, and her friend Noura al-Suwaidi, a Banking and Financial Studies student of QU, are among those who have benefited from the writing workshops led by Carol Henderson, a writing coach from North Carolina, US.
“If 95% of Americans could write in a second language like these women, the world would be a better place,” remarked Henderson, an award-winning columnist who has written extensively for national magazines and newspapers in the US and Canada.
The weekly workshops, organised by QU’s Student Affairs Department and co-sponsored by the US State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) small grant programme, run till February 14.
“The process of writing does not have to be an ordeal. If you can tell a story to someone then you can write, all you need is to put the pen to paper and let the words flow,” the coach said.
Henderson, who has conducted writing workshops at universities, church groups, prisons and other institutions, recalled that she has not found anyone who could not write.
“If you think you have nothing to write, write about nothing,” she said while pointing out that was the reply she gave to a student who told that she did not have any topic to write on.
Speaking about how the workshops are benefiting her, Noura al-Suwaidi said that now she has the ability to express her ideas better.
US embassy’s public affairs officer Joey Hood described the workshops as an example of ‘soft diplomacy’ that helps the American people to connect to people around the world.
“Projects like this stimulate people’s thinking and creativity and help build a civil society,” he said.
Hood also revealed that work is on to establish a children’s parliament, under the MEPI umbrella, in association with the Qatar Childhood Centre.
QU’s educational consultant Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar and library director Dalia Gohary also spoke.
|
