Changing the world (or …Feeding back)

The teacher ranking is quite brutal though – excellent, very good, adequate, or fail. Actually, on second thoughts, I think I don’t want my children to assess me at all until at least one of the three has learnt a modicum of tact.

And then today was a totally different kind of day.

Along with 39 assorted Muslim women, I went to 10 Downing Street. It was a listening exercise, with Government people listening to what Muslim women really thought. I was a little sceptical, but it was surprisingly positive. We were discussing issues related to families and communities, including education. We talked about mosques and schools and resources and funding (or lack of it) and neighbours and integration and extremism. And all the while someone was taking notes at each table and we were assured our collective comments would be widely circulated. Insha’allah (God Willing). All the women took the exercise seriously and it was exciting to see the level of community involvement in a variety of different areas by such a diverse and articulate range of people. People were involved in business forums and education and women’s networks and healthcare – and some also fitted in as many as 5 children into their busy lives. I tried to imagine 5 children all needing you at once but it gave me a bit of a headache so I thought it best to concentrate on the issues closer to hand.

One person from each table summarised and presented feedback to Tony Blair and the other ministers there. The funniest point was when someone criticised the prayer facilities at 10 Downing Street. Personally, I had been very impressed with the lovely aqua room looking out onto Leo’s play area, complete with prayer mats and compass and ensuite bathroom, but clearly a few people wanted full-blown mosque facilities complete with foot-washing stools!

At the end, Tony Blair summarised what he had heard and gave his own feedback, the main theme being that misunderstanding and ignorance was at the heart of all the issues. He was honest in admitting that until just a few years ago, he had assumed that women wore hijab (the scarf) because they had been forced to. And the same misunderstandings are responsible for all kinds of recent local experiences: a teacher teaching the children that women use their hijab to clean the floor; 2 teenagers ripping the scarf off another teenager (calling her an immigrant without even knowing what that word means!), people asking me if my toddler has to fast, and assuming that converts are only muslim because their husbands are…the list goes on. And Tony Blair, regardless of what one may think of his broader politics, came across as genuine, sincere and keen to help. And he agreed he has one big thing in common with the Muslims – being portrayed not always as positively as one would like in the media!
Then I came home to my real life. The youngest two were trying to impress me with circus acts on the climbing frame, and they took the opportunity to spy on/chat with my neighbour every time they reached the top. We soon realised it was easier to catch up face-to-face rather than via the children on the climbing frame, and round she came with her cup of tea. While we chatted, she helped me feed the children and then extricate them from landing on top of each other on the slide. And then I realised that that is what the government wanted to encourage: we must mix with our neighbours and integrate with our wider communities. So the government solution must clearly be a high-level nationwide imposition of climbing frames, along with a generous smattering of pre-schoolers to climb them. Simple.

My 7 year old Safiyya and I finally enjoyed a few quiet minutes together. I asked her if she knew where I had been today. ‘To see our President?’ she asked. Well, almost. And who is he? ‘Well he is the man who looks after our country’. She obviously has a very rosy image that I did not want to modify in any way. I asked what she thought we may have talked about. ‘Changing the world?’ came the instant reply. I am touched she thinks that our conversation would be quite so high-level, but then, as we had talked about earlier, the next generation have high expectations. And so I look forward to our generation – and the next - changing the world, although I suspect it may take a little longer than one afternoon.

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