I want to share a few pictures of the Kurdish children. My friend David Evans of Scotland regularly goes into Kurdish areas to organize “Space Days” to give the youth hope in the midst of endless war. I participated only remotely (by Skype) in this, but oh how moving! .../1
2/ David organizes these to have space scientists speak and answer questions with the older youth via Skype while teachers translate. David gives Space Bears to the younger children. ❤️😭❤️😭 
They have security issues because the Space Day events themselves become potential targets in the fighting. There are power outages and other logistical problems. David reports that the children are deeply moved.
4/ Here are the older youth when I got to speak with them about lunar science and exploration. They were super enthusiastic. David says “space” excites us because it lifts our eyes beyond Earth‘s problems to the possibility of a different future.
5/ @LauraForczyk is another space scientist who spoke at one of these events. David was also working to get funds to restore a telescope in Irbil, Syria, in the Kurdish region, and to revive the Boy Scouts in Syria.
6/ I am going on a tangent so I can say what an awesome person David is. He also organizes students in the UK to work on graphic simulations of space exploration and settlement. I met him via a Dundee space event. He was awarded the British Citizen Award for his overseas work.
7/ And when my wife Gigi went through difficult cancer treatments, wearing painfully cold ice booties & gloves for hours to reduce risk of neuropathy, David sent a version of the Space Bear along with a care package. Gigi named the bear “Bearable.”
8/ David is an inspiration & a role model for me. Back off the tangent about David:
I’m grateful his work allowed me to meet some of the people. I was told the older kids were anxious to speak to me in English, so they rehearsed saying their questions before the event...
I’m grateful his work allowed me to meet some of the people. I was told the older kids were anxious to speak to me in English, so they rehearsed saying their questions before the event...
9/ It was obvious they wanted me to see their value as competent students of space science, they wanted me to take them seriously and value them. It was an obvious vibe in every aspect: dress, posture, eye contact, what they said. And of course I DID, and I DO value them highly!
10/ Every student in any country who wants to be involved in space communicates this same vibe when I meet them. I can tell which students have put strong hope into being involved in this field versus those who haven’t. (I wonder if they realize this is easy to sense? 🙂)
11/ The Kurdish students were giving this vibe as strongly as any I have ever met. David’s e-mail about the event is attached.
12/ Seeing students respond this way is what motivates me to continue this work. The essence of their vibe is *hope* for the future. That hope motivates their action, and asking me for info, or a job, or contacts is a tactic to fulfill their *hope*. I always walk away energized.
13/ Just this past week a friend told me in Luxembourg they have the exact same experience. They get their energy to persevere in space work by talking with students. The work is important because real youths’ hearts & dreams are at stake. Talking with them makes it real for us.
14/ The youth in Kurdish the areas are exactly the same. The symbolism of space—creating a better future high above the problems of Earth—turned on that vibe and I could see they wanted to find a way “in” to this future. They wanted to impress, to ask questions in my language,...
15/...to ask smart questions so I would value their competence. They wanted the “space” person, who entered their world with this potent symbol of hope for a better future, to value them enough to invite them to share in that future. Their enthusiasm wasn’t mainly about space,...
16/16 ...but about *seeing* them, and therefore valuing them, and therefore embracing them to share in the good things that humanity has going on—like space, to embrace their contributions, and to share in the journey. They deserve this.
Appendix: I didn’t realize David is active on twitter these days (Apologies!). He is here: @DaveTheEpic. Follow him for more.
Dave, I hope you don’t mind that I bragged on you a bit. You’re an inspiration.
Dave, I hope you don’t mind that I bragged on you a bit. You’re an inspiration.
