Walden Cabin: Observations typed on an old Underwood

Friday, October 04, 2002

Balloon animal diplomacy
Something magic happens when you give a child a balloon. I'm sure it's a universal effect. This is what made it seem natural to stand on a street corner in busy downtown Amman to blow up and hand out balloons twisted in the shape of a dogs or poor imitations of giraffes and horses. I gave them to anyone would take them. The effect was almost immediate. Suspicion quickly melted away. People were smiling. Then a big crowd gathered. We didn't really talk, especially about politics -- though I did give out about 60 Canada pins. An hour later, with my 100-balloon supply exhausted (and me too), I left feeling like I had done my part as a sort of good-will ambassador. Winning the peace, one balloon animal at a time. Hey, it's a start, eh?

>> See the balloon animal photos.
(Taken by Andrew Bews, a Canadian working for UNESCO in Amman)



	Friday, October 04, 2002 Balloon animal diplomacy Something magic happens when you give a child a balloon. I'm sure it's a universal effect. This is what made it seem natural to stand on a street corner in busy downtown Amman to blow up and hand out balloons twisted in the shape of a dogs or poor imitations of giraffes and horses. I gave them to anyone would take them. The effect was almost immediate. Suspicion quickly melted away. People were smiling. Then a big crowd gathered. We didn't really talk, especially about politics -- though I did give out about 60 Canada pins. An hour later, with my 100-balloon supply exhausted (and me too), I left feeling like I had done my part as a sort of good-will ambassador. Winning the peace, one balloon animal at a time. Hey, it's a start, eh? >> See the balloon animal photos. (Taken by Andrew Bews, a Canadian working for UNESCO in Amman)				Jump to other Jordan posts > A Little Closer to God and Bombs > Balloon Animal Diplomacy > Streets of Amman > He Shoots, He Scores > Pillar of Salt > Ahmed the Spud > Rana and Honour Killings Head for the Hills of Prince Edward Island Walden Cabin >> "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front the essential facts of life and to see if I could learn what they had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Walden; Or Life in the Woods (08.21) Walden Cabin is a publishing creation of Accolade Intermedia, an Ottawa-based communications company that specializes in content-rich Web products. www.accolade.ca >>
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