环球英语 — 393：Hatred and Humanity: Azim Khamisa
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Hello. I’m Marina Santeee
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And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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A beautiful phoenix spreads out its red and golden wings. The phoenix is a bird of fire. As it flies, it lights the sky red. It collects branches to make its home - its nest. This nest is the last one it will ever build. When it is complete, the bird will set fire to the nest - and itself! The bird knows that it must die. Because it is from the ashes, that a new phoenix is born. This is its life - the wondrous phoenix.
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The phoenix is an imaginary character - a bird from an ancient story. The most painful point in its life is also the most important point. It is necessary for new life - change - to come. This image helps some people in real life. They look at their most painful points in life. And they see those points as defining events. From these events can come beauty and change. One such person is Azim Khamisa. Today we tell his story as one of our programmes on Hatred and Humanity.
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What would you do if someone killed one of your family members? It could be a brother or a sister, a son or a daughter. Would you try to harm the killer - with violence? Azim Khamisa sometimes begins his public talks with questions like these. Then, he shares his own story about his son, Tariq;
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Tariq’s family say that Tariq ‘loved life.’ And at the age of twenty [20], it looked like he had a bright future. He was studying at university in San Diego, in the U S A. Here, he had also met the woman he planned to marry. To earn money, Tariq worked part time at an eating place selling pizzas. People ordered pizzas from their homes. And Tariq took their orders to them.
On January 21, 1995, Tariq was at work. Someone telephoned for a pizza. They gave an address. And Tariq got in his car to take the pizza there. But when Tariq got there, a group of boys were waiting outside for him. The boys were part of a gang. They caused trouble in the streets. They ordered Tariq to give them his money and the pizza. Tariq refused. And he began to walk away. However, that night, the older boys were testing one of the younger boys - Tony Hicks. An older boy told Tony to use a gun. Tony obeyed. He pointed the gun at Tariq - and fired. Tony Hicks shot and killed Tariq Khamisa. Hicks was just fourteen [14] years old.
Tariq’s father, Azim, remembers the day the police called him:
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‘They told me that Tariq had been shot and killed. I remember I had never felt pain like that before. It felt like a nuclear bomb had exploded in my body.’
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However, the way Azim reacted was unusual. He did not seek to injure Tony Hicks. Instead, he saw Tony as a victim. He said;
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‘I saw victims on both ends of the gun. I will mourn Tariq’s death for the rest of my life. But now my mourning has turned into a powerful desire for change. We urgently need change in a world where children kill children.’
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How did Azim manage to see things this way - without anger and hatred? Azim explains that he did a lot of inner searching. He describes his road to forgiveness as ‘spiritual’. There was a defining point for him. It was ten weeks after Tariq’s death. Azim said;
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‘I drove to Mammoth Mountain in Southern California. I wanted to spend a few days alone. I wanted to think - to help calm my inner storms. I knew that Tariq was at peace, even though I was not. I began to understand that I needed to find something that I could do for Tariq. My deep sadness had to stop - or be set aside...
‘So I was high up in the mountains. It was a cold April night. And I was in front of a fire. Here, I had my first thought. What if I became an enemy? Not an enemy of the boy who killed my son. An enemy of the forces behind the killing. What if I devoted myself to stopping young people’s violence?’
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Here, on the mountain the idea for TKF began. TKF is the Tariq Khamisa Foundation. Azim wanted to establish an organisation in his son’s name. TKF would be for Tariq, his country and himself. Azim came down from the mountain with a new purpose.
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After months of hard work, Azim had his first TKF meeting. Fifty [50] people gathered in his home. They shared the same desire - to stop violence among young people. From this first small meeting grew an amazing organisation.
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Today the Tariq Khamisa Foundation has reached over eight million [8,000,000] students. It provides educational programs to schools. The programmes seek to empower children to say ‘no’ to gangs, guns and violence.
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Azim also uses his own experiences to help others. He encourages people to give up their feelings of resentment - that is hate, dislike and anger. He sometimes uses words from Nelson Mandela: ‘Resentment is like drinking a poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.’ Azim tells how he reached out to the people that hurt him - Tony Hicks and his family.
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Azim met Tony Hicks’ grandfather, a man named Ples Felix. Azim learned that Ples also had a burning desire to end violence among young people. And Ples wanted to help with the work of TKF. And so, in an amazing way the two men began working together.
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Today, Azim and Ples travel together. They tell people how they lost two boys to violence. Azim lost Tariq to murder. And Ples lost Tony to prison. Tony has expressed deep sadness and regret for his crime - but he is serving a twenty five year sentence for Tariq’s murder. Azim and Ples have a strong message. It reaches millions of young people. But it is only possible because they chose the path of forgiveness, instead of hatred. Azim says;
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‘I truly believe that through forgiveness we can create peace in our lives - the lives of our families, our community, our country and the world.’
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