Traveling from all the way north at the shores of the Caspian sea to white sandy beaches of the Persian gulf all the way south, from east to west, from cities to villages, from sublime forests to enchanting deserts we witnessed children from all colours, cultures and languages.
Here in Iran it’s hard not to notice the children. The ones who try their best to put into sentences the few words of English they know to greet foreigners, and the ones who make sure they give you a big smile when you point your camera at them.
The last 6 months I’ve been lucky to visit 9 provinces of Iran and was fortunate to see the beauty of smaller villages and their people rather than just big touristy sites. Here I found the children to be the most humble and warm hearted. Lives of many of them very much affected by 10 years of brutal sanctions on the country and lives of their fathers by 8 years of forced war. Not that the rest of us have gotten away, it’s just that our issues seemed like first world problems compared to theirs.
Most of them had very little but were free from the 21st century enslavement of iPads and computer games. They still lived like children, spent their afternoon outdoors and played with their neighbours. They were eager to communicate, cause attention and make sure you witnessed that they have survived despite the world turning its back on them.
They knew little about politics, deals and agreements. But they wanted to see more and more of us there. To greet us with their beautiful smiles and share the very little they had, give us hugs, take pictures and just talk for a few minutes as if all the world’s problems have gone away.
…
This post is dedicated to the children of Iran who are survivors…
like the many other children of this very complicated region.
This little one with her colourful dress striking her beauty. At the Mausoleum of Shah Nematollah Vali in Mahan, Kerman province.
Arg-e-Karimkhani (Karimkhani Citadel), Shiraz
