Meet writer, musician who tour to do good

They were here as part of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

Dubai - They fled the war in their home countries and found solace in art. They created bridges to serve humanity and become better version of themselves.

Using art for advocacy encourages using a focused lens and freezing moments to develop relationships with people in need, artists have said, on the sidelines of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
Sudanese-American poet Emtithal 'Emi' Mahmoud uses poetry and spoken word to advocate for the refugee crisis and disadvantaged communities. "Giving has become like a transaction. If you give money to a homeless person and walk away, you deprive yourself of the chance to really knowing the person and engaging in a conversation," said Mahmoud, who was named one of BBC's 100 Most Inspirational Women of 2015.
She decided to spread messages from refugee camps across the world through her spoken word after she realised that no one really knew the feeling of being displaced. Mahmoud's family had fled the war in Sudan to go to Yemen, and then to the US in 1998. 
"Poetry allows you to see the needy as people. It helps you turn 'giving' into something more vocal between people who might not have anything in common." Her first book, Sisters' Entrance, is a collection of 49 poems that will be published in early 2018.
Graduating from Yale University with a degree in anthropology and molecular cellular developmental biology, Mahmoud is known for her work with the UN, White House and visits to different refugee camps around the world. 
She joined the 'How to do good' tour in January 2017 that recorded good causes of humanitarians globally and performed to standing ovations in Oslo, Stockholm, The Hague, Brussels, Paris, London and New York.
For years, she had a constant feeling of being lost and not knowing where home is. By expressing stories through the spoken word, she wants to make sure people don't have to live the way she lived. "I can't get the feeling of home back in me, even after visiting Sudan at the age of 7; but maybe it isn't too late for other people."
Last week, she walked 100,000km in 30 days to raise awareness on people internally displaced in Darfur and to spread the message of peace. "I can't make all dreams come true nor fulfil all peace plans, but what I can do is give voice to it."
She urged the youth to push back the silence and make it through the hard times. "Young women should never forget that the rights they have today are an effort of millions of women who fought for such rights," she said. "On the days where the going gets tough, remember the women who did this for us and realise there are other girls we are doing it for," said Mahmoud. 

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