Saturday, April 4, 2009As we get ready to head home tomorrow, last night it was time to say goodbye to Ahmed Haji. At nearly 79, Ahmed Haji began his service with the Kurdish peshmerga as part of the Republic of Mahabad in 1945. Although he retired from peshmerga service years ago, he continues to work part-time in his retirement as a "village elder" in the countryside. A Christian "village elder" serves as his counterpart, and together the two of them help to mediate disputes between villagers in a region about 2 hours from Erbil.
Despite his age and the recent loss of his wife, Ahmed Haji still has a wonderful spark--and THE most delightful way of saying "okay, okay" in English.
This time it seemed harder saying goodbye--not knowing when, or if, we will see him again.
