The Peaceful Garden

Near the mountains of northern Iraq, two teachers took their students to a beautiful garden, full of many different colored flowers, to make bouquets. They told the children to go pick every flower except for the yellow ones. Once the students finished picking the flowers for their bouquets they realized the garden’s beauty had been decimated. They had destroyed the beauty of the garden! Then, these teachers explained how the garden represented northern Iraq saying: “When ISIS came, they destroyed everyone who didn’t look or think like them. They killed people and drove others away from their homes. The result is pain, death and destruction. But you have an opportunity to plant the seeds of religious freedom that will give us a reason to hope for a better future and restore what ISIS stole from us.” That powerful lesson, designed by two Yazidi teachers who escaped from ISIS and were later trained by Hardwired, Jalal and Ghanim, was the inspiration for this book. Through this lesson, thousands of children across Iraq have been able to overcome the trauma and fear they experienced when their communities were attacked by ISIS, and now have the tools to rebuild and live alongside one another in peace. It is our sincere hope that this book and the lessons included in it will teach children all over the world to value and respect others, especially those who come from a faith or culture different than their own. Read more