The journey of a war orphan Sahel Rosa is a documentary on NHK World Prime that all should watch. The journey of Sahel Rosa and her foster mother Flora who moved from Iran to Japan touched me deeply. And I wanted to share my impressions with all. A real-life story of the deep bond shared by a mother and child who are not related by blood but share a bond that is deeper than any other connections of blood. An inspiring and true story of a sense of belonging, sacrifice, struggle and overcoming of every difficulty that life presents them with. The creation and growth of a beautiful everlasting bond that gives them strength and faith while discovering the meaning of life in each other and with each other.
Sahel Rosa is someone who has gone through so many difficulties in life and yet she has retained her child like innocence, kindness and sensitivity. She has held her belief in life despite still trying to follow a path of self-discovery and searching a sense of belonging in a foreign country which is now her home of many years. Her immense warmth. generosity and sense of giving make her so special. In her loneliness too she keeps building herself through being there for others and truly giving back to the world by helping them out.
Life may not be a bed of roses but Flora tried to create a bed of roses for Sahel since the time she embraced her in life. According to her, the name she gave her means a sand shore of roses even though roses don't bloom there. Everything in her home resonates that. There are flower motifs on the walls and curtains as well as the clock. She has spread the fragrance of love in her adopted daughter's life and raised her to spread that fragrance of caring in the entire world. She has added meaning and significance to her adopted daughter's life by embracing her as her own and in the process making numerous personal sacrifices. She chose not to have her own child because she wanted to be a mother to this little girl she discovered. It was as if fate meant them to find a home in each other. Not everyone can wholeheartedly commit their life that easily to a child that does not belong to them, but Flora demonstrated that relationships can be born without blood too and can be thicker than blood too which makes one believe how important it is to share your life with a child who is lost and alone in this world. You can be that much needed anchor for a lonely child. You can be that direction. A foster parent can also cultivate a very beautiful and a much deeper connection with a child.
In the extreme hardships of being without a home in a country alien to them too, they kept recreating and building themselves...What could have made them very bitter only enhanced the sweetness of their kindness and freshness of their goodness. It reminds us that life can be so unfair and continues to test good people. Their challenges may be continuing with Rosa falling sick but even then, they are living with hope in the beautiful garden of roses they have created on the desert of life. The garden of roses they created at their place of residence would always be a true representation of their lives. The hardships of childhood and bullying in school did not defeat her even though one can imagine the scars and impressions that it could leave on a child's mind. The war that took away her parents could not diminish her. She is still true to her roots and identity despite living in a foreign country where her home is now.
Her journey with her foster mother in a country unknown to them at first is filled with so many challenges and yet that story of their life offers inspiration to those who could be facing similar circumstances and are working hard on surviving all that is dark and difficult in their lives.
As I say "Jinsei wa fukuzatsu...Demo tsuzuite iku shika nai !" [ From Japanese-English: Life is complicated/complex...There is no choice but to keep going on]
