Zainab Salbi

As an undergraduate student in Virginia in her early 20s, Zainab Salbi was inspired by what she read about the genocide in the Balkans to create Women For Women International, which was honored at the White House within two years of its formation.

The article that she read in the early 1990s described the genocide in the Balkans, the ethnic cleansing, and the repeated and systematic rape of an estimated 20,000 Bosnian women by Serbian soldiers. Zainab Salbi could relate to the vulnerability, fear, disconnection and loss from war, due to her childhood in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq conflict. Soon after she came to the US, the Gulf War started and she was unable to communicate with her family, so from her loneliness and isolation, she vowed to use her life experiences to help these Bosnian women.

None of the existing relief agencies that Zainab Salbi contacted were set-up to provide aid so early in the conflict, so she decided to form her own non-profit, despite her lack of experience in disaster relief organizations, professional contacts and funds of her own. The Unitarian Church in Washington was willing to act as her administrative arm for one year. In 1995, within two years after being formed, Women to Women International was honored at the White House for it grassroots achievements.

Women For Women International now serves indigent women in Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Colombia, Rwanda, Nigeria, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and Iraq. The organization provides emotional support and financial aid to women through a one-to-one sponsorship program, offering job training, leadership development and human rights awareness programs that teach women how to grow a postwar economy. It funds a micro-credit lending program that provides capital to create women-owned entrepreneurial ventures. In considerably less than a decade, it had raised over $24 million in direct aid and loans and helped 55,000 women become self-sufficient.

The passages and questions below are offered as a starting point for discussion, and are simply listed in sequential order as they appear in the book.

• Page 139 [Wolff] In one of the articles I read about you, you describe yourself as a 'Universalist'. Would you elaborate on this? [Salbi] "What I mean by 'Universalist' is that I don't believe in nationalism or in grouping people only according to a geographical location or outer characteristic. Culture, religion, ethnicity are man-made social constructs that influence our lives, but we are more than these limited constructs. We are one humanity, the human race, and we have a responsibility to help each other regardless of what group we belong to. It's only natural for people to drift towards others of a like mind or color or geographical location, but I don't think these things should restrict us from relating to everyone simply as human beings. If we act based on what we have in common with each other rather than on what's different about us, we can really help one another. ... I am not trying to essentialize human experience to disregard what makes us each different or unique—or to say that one way will help everyone. I realize that our experiences of race, ethnicity, and class do affect who we are and the challenges we face. But we have to act humanely toward each other."
  • What is your opinion of a "universalist" perspective as described by Zainab Salbi? Do you have activities/groups/opportunities in your life that allow you to express this? Please share.
• On my website, I describe our discussion group as an opportunity to be "beyond boundaries". For me, our evenings are a way to connect with others beyond our self-imposed perceives boundaries of age or church affiliation or neighborhood, etc and come together on meaningful topics that are best defined as "universal". This is a theme that Sister Helen Prejean talked about in chapter 1. Has that been your experience here? If no, what would need to change to facilitate that?
• Page 140 "In spite of what went on throughout my childhood, I had a good life. You learn to make a good life for yourself in a war. It's a very interesting paradigm that people who haven't lived through war don't realize: Life can continue and you can still have fun even when you're being bombed. You make life work. You make life happen."
  • This is a recurring theme in recent interviews - choosing your outlook despite your life's circumstances. But there is a slight twist here ... life doesn't happen to you, "you make life happen". Lately, I have had a few opportunities to appreciate the luxuries in my life that allow me to sit back, take a breath, and wait and see what shows up. That indeed is a luxury that is afforded to those who have security, whether it is financial or physical. What is your perspective in this?
• Page 149 [Wolff] How would you like to be remembered? ... [Salbi] "While this is very important to me, I think I'd really like to be remembered as someone who did not cause harm or hurt to anyone." ... [Wolff] Finally it comes to me: A decision to 'not cause harm or hurt to anyone' is a conscious act of will, a sometimes difficult task given the crosscurrents of emotion one must tame and the faith one must maintain to withhold retaliation. Helping others brings satisfaction, but noninjury to others brings self-mastery.
  • Wow! Margaret Wolff's reflection on Zainab Salbi's response really made me pause and think. So often, we feel it necessary to justify the reason we are asking for help (like the pictures of starving children on websites) to 'increase' the satisfaction for the person who gives to that cause. In the interview, Zainab Salbi talks about how she refuses to do that, because to do so would cause 'injury' to those photographed - 'injury' by labeling them as victims. Do you agree with the approach that some charitable organizations take by 'pushing our button' for compassion? Why do you think they feel the need to do that?
  • Noninjury truly is a conscious choice that must be made repeatedly, from moment to moment, and from event to event. What is your opinion on the concept of noninjury? How does it appear in your life?
• Was there a particular passage that made you stop and either consider or appreciate?