Essays and Travel Writing Archives

4Sep

By Ali AltawilNo Comments

Poem: Gaza, Once a City

Gaza city, like a flower born of ashes that taught us how to love life. By Ali Altawil, M.D. There was a small homeland,gazing out over the seaas if guarding a dream,Its name was Gaza…Not just a city,but the heartbeat of a soulthat never knew surrender,A flower born of ashes,That taught us how to love life,Even as the shadow of deathhovered in its sky each evening.Gaza…Her simplicity shone brighter than any grandeur,And her people wove love from pain,They smiled through wounds,And dreamed,for dreaming ran in their veins like faith and blood.Gaza…She loved life…If not for herself,Then for her children,Those who knew nothing but how to adore her,For she was their mother, their child, their friend,The story we tell when time grows heavy,And we need a lesson in resilience. Gaza…The me...

25May

By Ali AltawilNo Comments

WAR: Dispatches & Dialogue

Poem: “Fragrance of Memory”

'Tell Your Children About Us,' Doctor In Gaza Writes Photo by Ali Altawil Copyright @alialtawil By Ali Altawil, M.D. Tell your children about us,That we cherish lifefar more than our enemy cherishes our demise,That we dance with joywhen a certain song graces our ears,That we delight in raising cats,That our souls glowin the presence of jasmine flowers,AndThat we walk barefoot in the rain,So the memory of the land may cleanse us,Returning us to the place where we belong,Scented with its sacred soil. Ali Altawil, M.D. is a general practitioner and writer bearing witness to and shedding light on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, capturing lived realities with a poetic voice. He works at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the heart of Gaza, where he and his family endure the same strug...

In Gaza, A Medical Doctor Writes of Endurance Amid Indifference

20May

By Ali AltawilNo Comments

WAR: Dispatches & Dialogue

In Gaza, A Medical Doctor Writes of Endurance Amid Indifference

“We must not live only in the shadow” May 20, 2025—First in a series of essays and poems Ali Altawil, M.D. Altawil is a general practitioner and writer bearing witness to and shedding light on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, capturing lived realities with a poetic voice. He works at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the heart of Gaza, where he and his family endure the same struggles as the people he serves. Through his profession and his words, he resists oppression and holds on to the hope of a better tomorrow. If you'd like to support his work, visit his GoFundMe page. “They carry dreams as small as the sun” April 15, 2025: In Gaza, Children walk barefoot on their wounds, Carrying bags of clouds, Filled with verses of survival, And dreams as small as the sun. “We must not liv...

Seeing The Value Of Journalism In The Context Of War

23Apr

By Jacob DavenportNo Comments

Types of News: Brief

Seeing The Value Of Journalism In The Context Of War

Student Essay By Jacob Davenport April 23, 2022—When starting an internship with Mohr Media in January, I thought I already had a good understanding of journalism. I thought of it as reporting on the facts of a given situation and covering major events. As I progressed in my internship, I really began to see the importance of journalism. Specifically, I learned to core tenants of news reporting: Neutrality,In-depth research,Clarity,Organization, andRespectfulness. When researching for stories to find the facts and the truth, I found that the task was more challenging than anticipated. Witnessing Information Wars Towards the end of February, the world watched Russia invade Ukraine. It became clear how much the use of misinformation by the Russian Federation factored into the ...

ESSAYS: History Is Cyclical, And Humans Are Migratory

31Aug

By Ernesto RodriguezNo Comments

Immigration, Migration

ESSAYS: History Is Cyclical, And Humans Are Migratory

Ernesto Rodriguez moved to Madrid, Spain in 2019, escaping the political and economic crises in Venezuela. History doesn’t repeat itself exactly, but it does rhyme. Immigrant. It’s a loaded word. Honestly, it took a few months for me to assume it as mine. Its three syllables need to cover a crisis, a trauma, and a common name for more than 5 million Venezuelans. But it’s not just attributed to us. It’s also the reality of my grandparents, who had to leave Spain due to the economic crisis after the Spanish civil war. It's also true of for millions of displaced refugees from the Middle East, or even of a young person moving to Los Angeles to try his or her hand at showbiz. As the Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler sings, “Somos una especie en viaje.” We are a species of trave...

4Nov

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian

An American in Cuba: History & People

It was the first full day of the trip. I awoke early, ate breakfast and met my tour guide Rose and travel companions in the hotel lobby. It would be a full day touring by foot and bus. We were eight adventurers--George and Barbara, a couple who ran a family furniture business in Florida, Mike and Ana, a couple living in the Pacific Northwest who were just months away from expecting their first baby, Joel, a man in his 30s or 40s from California, two women from Alaska, and me. Clouds over head kept the air cool as we walked around Havana. Back at the Plaza de Armas, the story of Cuba unfolded. Christopher Columbus had landed there in 1492, declaring the island to be "the most beautiful land human have ever seen." Twenty years later, the Spanish took it as their own, using mostly un...

27Oct

By Patti Mohr2 Comments

Types of News: Brief

Cuba: First Encounters

I ventured out into the streets of Old Havana as soon as I could change money, store my cash in the room safe and change clothes. It was just after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and I wanted to make the most of the daylight. Taxi drivers in classic U.S. cars from the 1940s and 1950s circled the area outside the hotel. I opted to walk as it seemed the best way to experience the city. I headed down Cuba Street, a cobblestone lane shared by pedestrians and cars that cuts all the way across Old Havana, from the Male?on to the far side of the old port. Residents stood in their doorways watching people come and go. Locals and tourists shared the narrow sidewalks, stepping on and off to pass each other by as taxis, pedicabs and food carts accelerated down the street. On a side street, children pla...

22Oct

By Patti Mohr1 Comment

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian

Cuba: Hello Havana

It takes less than an hour to reach Cuba from Tampa, Florida by airplane. Simple, really. And yet it is still hard to see that Cuba is just 90 miles from the United States. The island has been forbidden land for most law-abiding Americans for so long. For the most part, it is still not legal to travel there unless you book, like I did, an educational tour through one of the roughly 100 organizations certified by the State Department to run people-to-people cultural tours. The U.S. government allows travel to Cuba for up to 12 different reasons. Tourism isn't one of them. So while the Canadians head straight for the beaches and stay there, Americans visit senior-center projects, organic farms, child care centers, artistic sites and museums. For most, it's a pretty packed schedule. Get...