Poetic Moment

Priyanka Sacheti, Friday ReportPublished: November 23, 2007, 01:04

I was born on the small island of Pemba near Zanzibar in Tanzania. I am of mixed parentage with my father [who lived in Zanzibar] hailing from nearby Comoros island while my mother's family is Omani, from the northern town of Rustaq, although she was born and raised in Zanzibar. I moved to Ras al Khaimah when I was 4 then shifted base to Dubai nine years later. I still regard the UAE as my home for it is where I attended school and grew up. I have been living in Oman for a decade and am presently working as a coordinator at the Spanish Language Centre in Muscat. As a child, I had various dreams … … one of which was to become a teacher for children with special needs. After completing school, I did a Montessori course for children with special needs by correspondence. I then worked as a volunteer then an assistant teacher at Al Noor, a private institution in Dubai for training children with special needs. It was amazing working with those children. As their teacher, one might think that I was opening up the world to them. However, it was they who transformed and opened new worldsfor me. Afterwards, I also worked in an advertising agency, which kept me on my toes. I completed the Charted Institute of Marketing course, which proved beneficial for my work. Starting as a receptionist, I worked my way up to be a promotion coordinator.

I left the UAE in 1997 because I wanted to live with my mother in Oman. I had visited Oman during my holidays but that was an altogether different experience from living here. After arriving here, I became more aware of my Omani heritage. It's also nice here because I have a huge extended family on my maternal side. Oman's rich culture is very family-oriented. We are all involved in each other's lives and it is wonderful to have that kind of familial support. However, I am also thankful to my father's side of the family; my half-brother and sister who raised me while I was in the UAE. I may now be away from them but they – along with my nieces and nephews – still shower me with so much love.

A turning point in my life … … was when my father passed away in Zanzibar due to cancer. His death was the catalyst that led me to publish a collection of my poems, Collective Thoughts for the benefit of children cancer patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH).

Until that point, I had written poetry solely for myself since childhood. I was a very shy child, constantly engrossed in my writing. I had stacks of files containing my poetry which I imagined would only be discovered long after I had gone. I was a humanities-oriented student and dreamt of being both a poet and a teacher of special needs. However, I soon realised that poetry doesn't pay and that I would have to find a job while also pursuing my poetry. I therefore wrote poetry for the sheer pleasure of it. At the most, I imagined myself reading my poetry aloud in front of an audience. I would have laughed if someone had told me 10 years ago that I would publish a book. However, after my father's death, I wanted to raise awareness about cancer. I wanted to help people by bringing together a collection of poems dealing with cancer. I faced various hurdles in order to publish Collective Thoughts. I faced external challenges, such as finding sponsors, and internal dilemmas, when I wondered whether I would ever be able to achieve this goal. I was also determined to promote and launch this book, despite this being my maiden publishing venture, using my experience in advertising and promotion. I feel that I was never aware of God's miracles as deeply as I did when I was creating this book. Everything eventually fell together in place. Many people's have contributed towards the book … … including my father-figure graphic designer, Dr Zakia al Lamki, former head of Child's Health department at SQUH … and other friends and well-wishers. That's why the book is entitled Collective Thoughts. I wanted to pay tribute to the efforts, wishes and support of various people who helped this book get published. It was an unforgettable period in my life.
After this, I didn't think I could work on another book. However, I found myself writing and launching my second poetry collection, Within Myself: Willpower to Live Beyond Breast Cancer. In addition to poetry, I included narratives from breast cancer survivors to bring out their voices and pain. This book led to the inception of a third book about breast cancer patients in Tanzania.

I recently visited Zanzibar The purpose of the trip was to generate awareness about the disease as well as to obtain a mammography for the Ocean Ward Institute. Originally, I saw this trip as an opportunity to finish [my third] book. However, after arriving there, I witnessed such heart-wrenching sights that I could not get their faces out of my mind. People wholeheartedly embraced me wherever I went, taking pride in my African heritage upon hearing that my father was African. Avon MHD [Avon's exclusive distributor in Oman] gave me some [breast cancer crusade] ribbons to distribute to the patients there. Nurses explained to the patients that these ribbons would provide them with mental strength while fighting this disease. I visited the patients few days later to see the ribbons still proudly pinned to their blouses. It made me experience a huge responsibility towards them. It was no longer merely a book … it had become a mission. I have since created a leaflet on breast self-examination, which has been distributed among the patients there. I chose poetry as a means of generating social awareness about cancer … … because it was the only tool I had. My sole intention is to raise awareness about issues dear to my heart through my poetry. The process of writing is the easiest part; the difficulties lie in the technicalities of creating a book. Those are two contrasting worlds. I used to be shy, although working on the books has fundamentally transformed me as a person, taking me beyond the realms of ordinary experiences.
Snapshots Me and my poetic moments:

I do not think poetry should be limited to the confines of a book. I feel that life is full of poetic moments. I recently held a poetry workshop in which I used poetry as a means of therapy. I encouraged people who were ill, stressed or depressed to write poetry so that they could better express themselves and initiate a healing process. The concept of poetry therapy – practised by certified poetry therapists – is steadily gaining popularity in the West, particularly the US. Poets visit hospitals where they read poetry to patients and encourage them to write poetry.

http://www.gulfnews.com/friday/People/10169711.html

The daring stand against cancer

_ By Rekha Baala _

‘I am not sure if poetry is a sensible way to fight cancer. Still I keep pouring words into poetic thoughts, hoping they can bring the weakest breath of relief for those who are suffering with
cancer or have a loved one suffering with this disease’


When she was a child, Nasra al Adawi had a dream. To stand up on stage and read a poem for underprivileged children. The small dream has grown to embrace new and far-reaching dimensions. Nasra today has two books of poems to her credit and her third one entitled Brave Faces: The Daring Stand Against Cancer will be launched today.

Nasra’s oeuvre is both poignant and thought-provoking. Her first attempt, Collective Thoughts published in 2002 is a book of poems interspersed with paintings made by children afflicted with cancer. Two years later, Nasra came out with a second title Within Myself: The Willpower to Live Beyond Cancer, in collaboration with the Oman National Association for Cancer Awareness.

Brave Faces: The Daring Stand Against Cancer, Nasra’s latest effort also centres on cancer. Here, she goes back to her roots in Africa and captures the powerful voices of women battling cancer in Tanzania and their triumph against the odds. Nasra was born in Zanzibar, brought up in Dubai and came to live in Oman in 1997.

The Omani poet began writing poetry as a child and later used her verse to draw attention to social and humanitarian concerns and donating the proceeds from the sales of her books to charity. The dreaded
‘C’ word, cancer has greatly influenced and brought many changes in Nasra’s life. “The death of my father from cancer removed the initial fear and shyness and created a bold poet within me,” she says in the introduction to the book. “I am not sure if poetry is a sensible way to fight cancer. Still I keep pouring words into poetic thoughts, hoping they can bring the weakest breath of relief for those who are suffering with cancer or have a loved one suffering with this disease,” she adds.

Nasra’s strong links to the country of her birth had her itching to ‘bring poetry to Tanzania because it is there that my father’s soul is buried in the soil of Zanzibar’. But she was still unsure how she could reach out, being thousands of miles away from Africa. The making of Brave Faces is strong testimony of the fact that ‘where there is a will, there will always be someone to lead the way’. Help came in the form of Hamoud al Jabry who shared her vision and introduced her to the Collective Development Corporation (CDC) in Tanzania who would put her in touch with women fighting cancer.

“In the beginning, I began getting summaries of each woman’s story. As I pored over them, I realised that the emotions were missing. If I had to understand what they were going through, I had to be with them and talk to them,” she says. Soon, she was on a plane to Tanzania to visit the Ocean Road Cancer Research Institute, the only oncology centre in Tanzania. And discovered courage, strength, determination and faith. In first-hand accounts of women bravely fighting breast and cervical cancer. The outpourings of emotion are evident in Nasra’s verse through and through.

Whether it is the voice of faith in Hear Your Voice, the healing touch in Touch Me Love or the spirit of survival in A New Dawn Begins, Nasra clearly has the ability to tug at the heart-strings. It is not easy to write about cancer or someone undergoing the ordeal. Nasra admits that she went through many emotional ups and downs while doing the book. There were some stories she could not finish because the women she had spoken to had succumbed to the disease. But the women at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute had one thing in common which inspired Nasra a great deal.

“The women I met were firm in their realisation that God doesn’t take away everything. He gives you the illness but also gives you the courage to face it. The women wanted to share their stories with me because they felt that they could help other women who have cancer. ‘We can fight it’ was the motto ruling their lives at every stage,” she says. The conditions in which these women were undergoing their ordeals were not easy. Nasra was amazed to find more than 40 women in one ward. But that did not dampen the spirits of these women in any way. “We had taken many gift bags from Oman but these were not enough to go around.

We also had a lot of pink ribbons but didn’t think that they would be of any value. But a nurse at the hospital insisted we distribute them. The women accepted them with love and pinned them on. I was touched when they told me that the pink ribbon would give them the extra strength to fight cancer. They also happily posed for photographs.” The poet wants to continue with her voluntary work despite her hectic schedule as co-coordinator at the Omani Friendship Association. Right now, she is involved in a calendar project with children at SQU Hospital.

“I want to promote art by children in a big way. I am also looking for sponsors to aid my project.” Brave Faces also carries a Swahili translation. Distributed by SJS Oman, the book will be available at major bookshops in Oman from November 3. It will also be launched in Tanzania later this year.


(Brave Faces: The Daring Stand Against Cancer, a book of poems by Nasra al Adawi is being launched today (October 30) by Dr Sharifa bint Khalfan al Yahya’eeya, Minister of Social Development at InterContinental Muscat at a function organised by The Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania. Proceeds of the sale of this book will exclusively be used for cancer awareness campaigns in Tanzania.)