Ghanimat Azhdari
Yesterday I listened to a University of Guelph (one of my alma maters) professor speak about an Iranian graduate student named Ghanimat Azhdari who died in the crash of a plane which had just taken off from Tehran airport. She had only been a U of G student for a few months but the prof was obviously very impressed by Azhdari, a member of the nomadic Qashqai tribe in Iran, who was doing research in the college of social and applied human sciences at the university, mapping and cataloging Iran's indigenous nomadic communities.
Azhdari was a rigorous scientist but she also spoke about the sacred mountains and rivers. She was convinced that the scientific and spiritual were intertwined, which is common to many Indigenous cultures and a regular theme, including in yesterday's blog entry. She shared with colleagues the reverence for the natural world in her tribe's culture, including music and dance.
While she was home in Iran over the break she sent back photos of her region, for which she had a great love. In fact she sent several pictures just before she boarded the plane. The professor was so stricken with grief as he spoke that he paused to shed some tears, a touching tribute to a student who had invited him to visit her homeland at a later date.
This death and all the others are a terrible loss for Iran and for Canada, where so many of those who died resided. As we remember them in our prayers we can also pray for the protection of the wild beauty of Iran which Azhdari cherished.
Zagros Mountains Iran
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