Where a small step in international relations unites a child and a mother

Through the last seven years, working in the field of #internationalrelations, I have realized that you don't necessarily have to be a part of a big #UN organisation or #NGO to make a difference to lives of people in other countries. Late last year, I got a message from my former #PaxPopuli colleague Tinku Gupta about an Afghan #refugee mother who escaped from her abusive husband in #Iran and fled to #Afghanistan. Unfortunately, her son was left behind and the husband, though willing to let go of her, did not want her to meet her son again. Tinku asked me for contacts in Iran. I was a bit skeptical about how much we could do, with borders closed because of Covid19. Iran was one of the worst hit last year and there's little data after the initial months. Still, I asked Behrad N. Mistry in Tehran for help, a man I know through a friend in #Pakistan and have never met. He pulled his network together, some lawyers too and coordinated with Tinku, while I stepped away busy playing mother to my toddler. Last week, Tinku texted me that the mother and son have been reunited. It made me feel happy to be a small part in a large chain of events that made mother and son unite.❤️