Megan Hoelle's blog

Malik’s* family raised chickens and honey bees in Iraq. He and his eldest son also served as interpreters for the U.S. Army until insurgents kidnapped his son and used explosives to destroy their 10,000 chickens and 56 bee hives. After paying a ransom to get his son back, Musadaq and his wife, along with their son, came to America on a Special Immigration Visa (SIV) reserved for Iraqis who have been helping the US.

Monday was the deadliest day in Iraq this year. A series of coordinated attacks across the country killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more.  The attacks began shortly after 5 am and continued throughout the day in over 10 cities, including: Falluja, Samarra, Tarmiya, Suwyra, Mahmudiya, Basra, Hilla, Baghdad and at checkpoints on the border with Kurdistan.  I mention the cities names because it’s all too easy to forget that these are neighborhoods where people live, go to work, go to school and try to go about their lives in the midst of war.

In light of the tragic earthquake that took place in Haiti Tuesday, Jan. 12th, we invite you to join in a multifaith response to help those affected by this crisis.

Here are a few ways you can help:

So, if you’re like me, you still have some last minute Christmas shopping to do. And if you’re also like me, you might need a little help coming up with that perfect gift.

Something was different about watching Obama on TV Tuesday night. For the first time, instead of feeling inspired and uplifted by Obama’s words, I felt angry, frustrated and disappointed. I could hardly believe this was the same man who’s earlier speeches moved me to tears and filled me with pride. (I clearly wasn’t the only one, check out this article in Reuters). What bothered me most was that I felt like I was watching a speech that could have been delivered by our last President. Where is the change I can believe in?

It's been almost a month since I boarded a plane in Damascus and headed for home after spending three weeks in the Middle East talking to Iraqi refugees. Back in New York, life caries on very much as it did before I left. The city moves at a lightening pace. Storefront windows get ready for the holidays. My friends call and ask me to the movies. It's so easy to forget there is a war going on.

Last weekend, Sara and I attended the Interfaith Youth Core’s 6th Annual Conference at Northwestern University. The theme this year was Leadership for a Religiously Diverse World. Over 650 people were in attendance, most of them university students. They came from all over the country, with even a few coming from countries overseas like England, India and Afghanistan.

As we start our time in Syria, one of the things that is heavy on my mind is the challenge of trying to draw attention to the problems of a people who are in hiding. Many of the Iraqis we meet with do not want their real names used, nor their faces shown in any of the photos or videos. Their concerns are justified and valid, many are still facing persecution and all are living in their host countries illegally. It is a challenge we have been dealing with from day one, and I’ve started to realize that sometimes some of the most interesting things to come out of the interviews happen when I ask the question, “Can we show your face?”

Recently, iReport, a user generated news service, asked the public what would happen if "veterans had a stronger voice?" To that end, they challenged their readers to go out and interview veterans then post their stories online. Today, CNN picked up some of those video interviews and re-posted them online. There are common themes among the veteran stories like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), unemployment and lack of sufficient health care benefits. The interviews are primarily with veterans under 35, from the Iraq and Afghanistan war.

Two weeks ago, Time Magazine published an article entitled, “A Florida Culture-War Circus Over Rifqa Bary” which described an Ohio teen, Rifqa Bary, 17, who ran away from home after her Muslim parents allegedly threatened to kill her for converting to Christianity. Yesterday, CNN published an article with the headline, “Muslim Teen Fears for Her Life After Changing Religion.” This headline immediately conjures up images of a scared teenager running away from religious extremists who are out to harm her. But the situation is undoubtedly much more complicated than that.