Living Faithfully: Laugh, Love, Learn – Faith as a Component of Wellness

Introduction

At the outset of my academic journey at the University of Tripoli, in Libya, I proclaimed: “You can bomb a building. You can bomb a city. And you can bomb a country. But the one thing you cannot just bomb out is the intriguing passion of education seekers within a nation.” After over a year of countless and seemingly endless bombs that were targeted at my university campus, my faculty, my beloved home city, Tripoli, and my country, Libya, during an international proxy war, I am hesitant to stand by that statement any longer, but a part me still firmly agrees with it. Professors continued to teach, mentor students, and engage in research even when they were the target of kidnappers. Students continued to attend classes and complete exams even when bombs were exploding around them. Staff continued to provide support and keep the system going in the midst of power outages and fuel shortages. Palpably, the war had direct and various indirect impacts on every Libyan denizen's life and therefore resulted in complicated professional and personal lives. The experience of being a student in a time of chaos in my country made me ponder over why one continues to persist and persevere to keep going regardless of any unfortunate situation, and I have found my answers through faith that augmented my wellness.

The war and conflict that persisted across Libya during the first four years of my university experience suddenly became a preparative experience for life and not the unraveling struggle I initially perceived it to be. It was a draining experience. The consequences of war were often horrific for community neighborhoods that circled the university. The fear was real and the reality was uncertain for me and my fellow citizens. Most of us survived violent acts of terror, including being targeted on our campus with the heavy weapons unleashed by a warlord named Khalifa Haftar, backed by some countries including Saudi Arabia, who terrified the city of Tripoli for an entire year in 2019-2020. His assault on the capital city, my home, began the day that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was to fly into the capital city, April 4, 2019, to provide impetus for a forthcoming peace conference. The prolonged war led many students, faculty and staff to become internally displaced citizens, without homes and a shortage of other basic necessities of life, from water to food to fuel. Death was a stench that plagued the city. Fear was a constant companion because the threat of being bombed was imminent at any time. Surviving within such a context required me to seek out the deepest expressions of wellness so that I could focus as a student, especially in a field like pharmacy.

Persevering and succeeding in my studies under such circumstances felt painful on many levels. I felt attacked on every level of being. My family, my neighborhood, my campus, was being attacked as was my entire beautiful Mediterranean seaside city! It was not an easy thing to advance my studies. Working to achieve academically while trying to sustain wellness in the midst of a violent assault impacted me physically, emotionally, mentally and more. For me and for other students leading ourselves through conflict, the campus was a sanctuary even when it was the target of attacks.

The idea of the campus as a haven, as a retreat, is explained by bell hooks: “The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a place of possibility. In that field of possibility, we have the ability to labor for freedom...to transgress.” (hooks, 1994)

Gathering together as a university campus community, our hopes were renewed and some of our goals were achieved. Amidst all the chaos, we were learning about the world and ourselves. This chapter explores how campus community members like myself managed to persevere to pursue our university studies in the midst of war and conflict. I share how my wellness was sustained in the most tumultuous setting given my deep and abiding faith which was reaffirmed and deepened even further in the midst of war and conflict. I address the question: what do faith and wellness have to do with each other in the midst of scholarly pursuits?