Resilience Amid Turmoil: During a protest, Elahe Tavakolian was in danger when a police officer pointed his gun at her from only a few meters away. As gunshots ran out, the crowd shouted against the government. She turned her head quickly to protect her family, but a bullet just missed her eye.
It happened in September 2022, after Mahsa Jhina Amini died at the hands of Iran’s morality police. All over the country, people started to disagree. Tavakolian joined the protests because of long-standing problems like corruption, rules that require women to wear hijabs, and a dictatorship.
Her being shot would become a sad story that everyone in Iran knew. The government was very harsh, which caused a lot of people to protest and get hurt in the eyes. Tavakolian was just one of many people who got hurt.
It was a nightmare to get help from a doctor. Taxi drivers feared the cops so that they wouldn’t take her. People walking by were hesitant to help. Finally, a brave pair took her to the hospital, but her ordeal wasn’t over yet. She was ignored and not helped when she went to the emergency room.
Before she got the proper care, it took hours and a trip to a hospital in another city. Her eye needed surgery, so she stayed in the dark for a month to protect it. The piece of wood stayed stuck in her eye.
Even though she was hurt and in danger, Tavakolian felt driven to keep fighting. She wrote about it on Instagram, becoming a symbol for protesters who broke their eyes.
Rights campaigners said the government was trying to hurt protesters’ eyes as part of a plan. They tracked hundreds of eye injuries and noted that the attacks were trying to blind the protesters.
Many people, including children, died during the protests, and thousands were arrested. Tavakolian knew she had to keep going. Her life story became a sign of being strong.
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In November, she thought a third surgery would save her eye, but she was turned down because she was active on social media. Instead, though, her eye got sick. She left Iran in March because she feared going blind for good and being persecuted. She left her family behind. Italian writer Roberta Rei helped her get help in Milan, where her right eye was removed.
Now that Tavakolian has a fake eye, he doesn’t know what the future holds for him. Her biggest worry is returning to Iran to see her children, whom she left there. Even though she has been through a lot, she hopes to return one day and keep speaking up for people inside the country.
Even though the protests have died down, there are still signs of pushback. Tavakolian thinks that the way women in Iran still don’t wear hijabs is a form of social resistance.
As she walks through the busy streets of Milan, she raises her hands in a sign of success, takes off her sunglasses, and smiles as she shows off her fake eye. She thinks the spring of change will bring freedom back to Iran, no matter how many people they hurt.
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What is resilience in times of crisis?
Resilience in humans refers to the ability to bounce back from failure or adversity, and not just return to the previous state but also use the experience to grow and develop personally. Failure and resilience are two sides of the same coin, as one cannot exist without the other.
What is the meaning of being resilience?
Resilience is the ability to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity. It involves being mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally flexible, and adjusting to both external and internal demands. By successfully navigating difficult or challenging life experiences, individuals can develop resilience and emerge stronger and more capable than before.
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What’s the difference between resilience and resiliency?
Both words have identical meanings and are considered exact synonyms. Resilience was the original term and is considered the etymon of resiliency. However, resiliency is now commonly used with the modern meaning that we all know and love.