Letter of apology delivered in Iraq
Monday, November 15, 2004
By BETSY CALVERT
ecalvert@repub.com


SUNDERLAND - Word arrived just last week that a young Iraqi journalist successfully carried a letter from two Conway women through the war-ravaged roads and military checkpoints of his country to a region where Iraqi farmers had lost their livelihood.

It was a letter of apology for the damage done by war to citrus fruit and trees in Iraq signed by farmers from Western Massachusetts and their local supporters.

On Wednesday, about 20 people gathered at Riverland Farm along the Connecticut River to hear about the journey of the letter, and to announce the progress of fund-raising for Iraqi farmers in need of food. Some $2,000 has been raised already by people visiting farm stands that display information about the letter project. Half of the money will go to Iraqi farmers, and the rest will go to the United Services Organization for its food pantry at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee.

The letter, penned and painted by Mary McClintock and artist Ann Gibson, was in Iraq many months before it finally reached the town of Dhuluaya, along the Tigris River some 60 miles northwest of Baghdad. Local Quakers gave the letter to Quaker activists Mary Trotochaud and Rick McDowell, who are Iraq country representatives for the American Friends Service Committee. They are also Wendell residents when not in the Middle East.

Trotochaud described to the gathering the letter's journey. She and McDowell had hoped to deliver the letter, but as violence escalated as well as executions of foreigners, their options were shut down. They were forced to retreat from Baghdad to Iman, Jordan. While in Iraq, however, they met a young newspaper reporter, Salaam Al-Jabouri. He shared the Quaker desire for peace. However, he was skeptical of whether a letter of apology would have much meaning to farmers who had lost so much.

Still, he agreed to consider taking the letter. Later, they heard from him about what actually happened, Trotochaud said. He had decided to take the trip, even though he feared for his life should he be stopped by insurgent forces and found with an American letter.

Finally, he arrived in the town, to find that farmers had been forced to sell some of the farmland for a factory, where they themselves could not get jobs. On his trip, he witnessed destruction everywhere.

"He said, 'I felt there was death all around me,'" Trotochaud said.

The Iraqi farmers received the letter with great kindness, Trotochaud said Al-Jabouri told them. They suggested that the Americans come to their village for a great feast, but that will not likely happen soon, Trotochaud said.

"They said, 'Tell them welcome. We'd like them to come up,'" Trotochaud said.

As a result of this journey, Trotochaud said, "The seeds of peace have been planted in many ways."



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