Response to Phyllis Rodriguez and Aicha el-Wafi's TEDTalk

One big concept that I took away from this TEDTalk was the fact that the two women considered their bond simply "a friendship", in it's purest form. They used a very simple label to identify their complex connection, and I was amazed at how they were so calm and relaxed about the situation, like two women in a book club together rather than two mothers joined by suffering. I also noticed that during the talk, when Aicha became emotional speaking about how she wanted to make a change in the Muslim world, Phyllis reached out and put a hand on her arm. It was a small gesture, but it spoke volumes to me about how much these two women cared about each other and their cause. I gleaned that their relationship was outrageously understated, and that the respect and love they have for one another is of enormous proportion. They learned from their trials, and listened to their life stories without prejudice-- my favorite statement was "Before we even knew each other's names, we embraced, and wept." It showed how the empathy of two mothers who had lost children had abandoned their bitterness and found common ground. While Phyllis was speaking, she was honest and calm in her delivery of her story. However, she had an air of determination when recounting how she spoke out against the death penalty, conveying how much she cared about the issue. She also sounded sincere in her opinions of Aicha, whom she called a brave woman. Aicha stood with a translator by her side and a tissue in her hand while relating how she immediately noticed another mother, though she was married at 14 and had children at 15 and 16. Aicha was overcome by emotion, for although her son might be evil, she still loves him as her own and doesn't know if he is alive, dead or being tortured. Her tears and tone told the audience of her conflicted feelings and how much sorrow she felt for the whole situation. She regained her strength as she explained how she talks to young Muslim girls, persuading them to wait and not be forced into marriage. The two women spoke in turns, both offering their personal stories and then how they met. There were no Powerpoint slides, and not much laughter until the end when Phyllis made a joke about running out of time, but the audience stayed captivated. Gesticulations were common throughout the talk. I think this TEDTalk could be greatly beneficial to the education system because children should be taught to abandon their differences and find the common ground that they have. How many times has one child been excluded because they aren't the best at sports, or school, or they are anti-social? This resentment begins in elementary school, and fosters anger and sorrow throughout one's whole life. The education system should be designed in order to correlate to a child's particular strengths, so that they may feel accepted and skilled in what they do. For example, to draw on Ken Robinson's TEDTalk-- the choreographer he discussed, who finally felt at home in a school for dance, is a perfect example of someone finding their niche and becoming a master when they might have failed in a "normal" situation. Parents expect their kids to be proficient at a variety of things, and maybe they are, but they probably only truly enjoy one which might be neglected by their parents. Sometimes, a hobby can turn into the greatest talent of all, and society needs to accept that no everyone can fit the left-brained, doctor/professor model...some kids need to find other people that empathize with them, like Phyllis and Aicha.