Funding for The Good Road has been provided by-- The Buccaneer Beach and Golf Resort, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

Philanthropy Journal, stories about bold people changing the world.

Bank of America.

What would you like the power to do?

Music is the great unifier with power to change the world.

Musicians create that positive change music each and every day.

In Your Ear Studios, diverse musicians creating diverse music that unifies.

Here in Asheville, we're a mixture of genres, a hybrid of styles, settling for nothing, hungry for everything, all drawn together to stand out.

You are welcome.

Always, Asheville.

There's a whole lot of good out there wherever you look-- in our towns, in our communities, in the world.

And Toyota engineers vehicles to help you discover more of it with off-road machines designed to explore off the beaten path like Sequoia, 4Runner, and Tundra i-FORCE MAX, all of which feature traction technology that goes the distance.

So the next time you head out looking for more good, Toyota can take you there.

Proud sponsor of The Good Road.

Toyota, let's go places.

Mosul, Iraq is hard to get to.

It's not a place many people go especially since 2014 when ISIS, or Daesh as the Iraqis call them, invaded the country and took Mosul as part of their caliphate.

But what few seem to know is that Daesh was pushed out of Mosul in Iraq as a whole in 2017.

And through the pandemic and beyond, the Iraqis have been rebuilding the city that they love.

Mosul is bisected by the Tigris River and has a civilization that goes back at least four millennia to the heart of the Assyrian Empire.

This is a breadth and depth of culture that is hard to grasp.

It's especially hard when our modern understanding is so clouded by war and the nightly newscast.

We are invited to follow a US-based organization called Hardwired Global as they cultivate pluralism and freedom of consciousness in a region plagued by fear, suspicion, and as we soon found out, an intense joy and desire to heal.

[music playing] [non-english speech] Day one starts out with a trip to a formerly ISIS-controlled school in Nimrud for a community event around the Hardwired program-- an extremely conservative city just South of Mosul.

The Hardwired team, led by Tina Ramirez, was concerned about the cameras at the first site.

They thought we might need to wait in the car while they felt out the situation.

They were wrong.

[speaking arabic] The joy is doubled-- Yes.

--as you are here today.

And secondly, because the weather is good.

Let me just say, I'd love to see the children.

And every time we come to a community, you can see that the hard work that they do makes a future for everybody.

[speaking arabic] Now, thank you.

Thank you.

[speaking arabic] After the initial shock and excitement, it settled into a school event pattern any parent would recognize-- welcomes, speeches, and blessings.

[SINGING THE IRAQI NATIONAL ANTHEM] After the Iraqi national anthem was a recitation from the Koran, followed by Tina's greetings and thanks.

[singing in arabic] [speaking arabic] Thank you for having us.

We're so thankful to be here and for all of the teachers that have been working so hard with you over this past year and to get to meet all of the leaders from the village that are supporting this program.

[applause] Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, perfect.

The director of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, Yohanna, kicked off another series of thank yous to the local leaders.

Hammurabi is the local partner that makes Hardwired's work possible in this difficult region.

[speaking arabic] We are gathered here to fight against extremism to build a community for all people against extremism where we are united and working together as one.

So Najib is our master trainer who has been working here with teachers and students for the past two years.

Hardwired and their master trainers have partnered with over 40 state-run schools in Mosul and the Nineveh plains to train teachers in a program promoting religious and cultural diversity and coexistence-- what they call pluralism.

[speaking arabic] That's one of the religious leaders of the community.

It's a first time when people from East and people from the West are combined by soul in this ceremony.

And we need this kind of collaboration among humans from different parts of the world.

Finally, the students came out to perform Fruitopia-- part of the Hardwired training curriculum.

It's a play about the importance of tolerance, pluralism, and human freedom told through the lens of different fruits.

Though it seems quaint, it's a framework to have hard conversations and a perfect example of the way Hardwired's grassroots education and training is impacting communities.

The end of the play transitions seamlessly into a full on celebration.

[music playing] We took the opportunity to speak with a teacher, Hiba, and some of the students who went through the Hardwired program.

Can someone tell us what they learned about the program?

[speaking arabic] In Fruitopia, the different fruits were actually fighting against each other and hating each other.

However, at the end, they learned that they have to be one community working together.

And this is so much like what happened in Iraq.

But now, we are back uniting together, helping each other because this is the only way for Iraq to flourish.

What is it about the play that helps them think about how they can make the future better?

[speaking arabic] She learned from Fruitopia that she should befriend with everybody even if they were poorer, richer, or different.

[speaking arabic] We should always spread love.

And we should never hate anybody.

These are very good answers.

[speaking arabic] Can she talk about how long she was a teacher and then what changes has she seen during the time that she's been a teacher here in this school?

[speaking arabic] Before that, I was not a teacher.

But during Daesh, a lot of kids, they either lost their parents or they had lost their homes.

And because of that, it was my moral duty to work with them.

And that's why I went to becoming a teacher.

Is she optimistic about the future?

[speaking arabic] She's saying that, of course, she's very optimistic, especially that these kids, they have built a conception of what is right and what is wrong.

What is one thing that they could say to Americans back in the United States?

[speaking arabic] I want to tell them, just be kind to others all the time.

[speaking arabic] Iraq is paradise.

Whoever comes here gets to learn about Iraq's generosity, Iraq's beauty, and they will never want to leave.

I love it.

That's good.

[speaking arabic] It's like in America.

And the kids here, we are very similar.

And we should talk more to one another.

Wow.

I think she has something beside you to say.

[speaking arabic] I just wish that all these wars would end because we have seen lots of people dying.

[speaking arabic] It's terrifying.

And it makes every child afraid.

And I don't want to be afraid anymore.

At that point, school let out.

And many of the students had to leave.

Two students, Sama and Wala, who lost their fathers stayed behind to talk.

It was difficult for them to do so.

But they wanted us to know about the future they hoped for.

[speaking arabic] She can talk or not.

It's fine.

She doesn't have to talk.

[speaking arabic] She wants to work and fight for human rights and humanity and her nation and the rights of all people all over the world.

[speaking arabic] I want to send a message to the world.

I want to tell them that no child should live but joyfully.

And I have lost the joy since I lost my father.

I just wish that no one would lose their dad.

And I know that to have this, we should all work for our country.

Thank them for their courage to tell us.

[speaking arabic] Their father would be very proud of them.

Yeah.

[speaking arabic] OK?

Bye.

I love you.

[speaking arabic] These are tough but inspiring stories and familiar to anyone who stayed through the occupation of Daesh.

Mosul is one of the most religiously and culturally diverse regions in the world that has a long history of tolerance peppered by spikes of sectarian violence.

The terror of Daesh is steeped fear of the others in the different communities.

But the vast majority of the population embraces and reveres the diversity that Daesh tried to destroy.

We headed to another community event in Tel Kaif-- less conservative but just as exuberant.

After the event, we spoke with one of their teachers, Mahmoud-- a native of Mosul for more than 30 years.

[speaking arabic] My role is, first of all, to teach them the basic principles of education as an academic.

However, there there's a role that's deeper than that which is teaching them about the values, the moralities, and get them to live together if they're Arabs, they're Yazidis, they're Kurds, from different backgrounds.

So many of the children that we've met have hard stories.

How have you seen changes from the children?

[speaking arabic] At first, they rejected it.

Before the program, they didn't have a lot of communication together.

And they were bullying each other.

Now, after they worked together from different classes on the program, they became more considerate towards each other's emotions.

And the level of bullying in the school generally has decreased.

It made it possible to communicate with the kids at their own level.

It brought up the child in him as well.

He's more like a banana, not like a coconut.

[laughter] More flexible.

How are the parents responding to the Fruitopia play?

[speaking arabic] The parents were very supportive of the program.

They were actually encouraging for more expansion of the program.

You've spent 20 years in war.

These kids have spent their whole life in war.

Are you optimistic about the future?

[speaking arabic] I'm the most optimistic person.

Tomorrow is certainly a better day.

And those kids are the future.

[speaking arabic] I'm not biased about being Iraqi, but we are number one.

It's so good to meet you, yeah.

We traveled into Mosul proper to Mar Thoma Syriac Christian Church for a view of the city.

The church dates back to the eighth century with the current structure having been built in the 14th.

Like most of West Mosul, it was not spared by ISIS.

But its bells were the first to ring out once the occupation ended.

Hardwired works in difficult places all over the world from Sudan to Kuwait to parts of South America.

We spoke with Tina about the how and why of its creation.

Our ability to live in freedom is really the most important thing that we have as human beings-- the freedom to worship, to have your conscience not invaded or suppressed by others, to have hope, and to live with dignity regardless of who they are or what they believe, what their ethnic or religious background is.

And so we work to help communities that don't have that kind of freedom we have.

In many places in the world, there isn't a culture of pluralism where the freedom of religion, of belief, of conscience can exist.

This destruction here is the epitome of that.

Daesh came in.

And people that didn't believe like them, they killed.

Even within their own faith community, they had no space for any kind of diversity of thought or opinion.

Christians, Yazidis, Baha'is, Jews, and you name it, we're literally being erased from the culture.

And so in that context, we go in.

And we help leaders at the governmental level and within the legal profession.

The advocacy world work together to develop legal protections for basic rights and freedoms and the freedom of conscience in particular.

You guys actually have created quite an infrastructure here.

And I can't help but notice coming in that it's because you seem to get the respect and the love of the people in the communities.

Because the Iraqis have seen people come and go time and again after different conflicts, they really don't trust a lot of outsiders.

And so because I've been here for 20 years in different roles, they trust me.

But at the same time, we're always working at the grassroots level with the community because you can't have one without the other.

You can't have the court of law without the court of public opinion.

We're on.

It's-- that's actually-- Here it goes.

And it's so interesting because we happen to be here on the 20th anniversary-ish of when the US came in.

I mean, where are we?

The horrors of Saddam and the horrors of ISIS, Muslim and Christian and Yazidi and everybody else alike don't want to go backwards.

They only want to go forward.

They want those bells to ring because they feel like there's something missing without the diversity and the community.

Without the Christians and the Yazidis and the others, it doesn't feel right.

What makes a lasting peace?

This is like the age-old question.

I don't know.

I can't say like I have the answer to world peace.

Sorry.

Oh, come on.

I'm sorry.

What makes peace?

I think it means really changing the way you think about others.

It has to start one by one.

The children, because the children are changed, parents are now being changed.

It has this resounding effect on the community.

And that's what's going to bring peace in a community, in a family, in a school, and in the country.

Education really is the tool for the bottom-up approach of ensuring that generations of children don't grow up being reinforced by these ideas of hate and intolerance and violence that they've literally just seen all their lives.

We work in the hardest places because most people don't go there.

The work that we're doing here will have an impact on the broader region.

For so long, I think many of these countries have been told you have to look and sound a certain way to be free.

There's no model for what that looks like.

There's no recipe.

They need to find it themselves.

Despite all the rubble, you're in a place of beauty, a place of love.

And there's so many people, Muslim or Christian or Yazidi, they welcome you in.

The joke is that we've been fed too much.

Everywhere we go, come eat, come eat.

Yes, welcome to Iraq.

Well, you'll never go hungry again.

We're both inspired by the work that you've done.

You don't do it alone.

You do it with your team, but you also have these partnerships that you have elsewhere.

I would just say it is important.

It feels very important.

And I'm not sure I would have ever come here.

You've helped give us the courage to be here so thank you.

Yeah, thanks.

You're welcome.

I'm so glad you did because I want the world to see it-- what it was, what it could be, what it will become.

So many Americans and British and others lost their lives helping the people of Iraq over the years.

And I think it's important for them to see how the people are taking freedom in their own hands and planning the seeds of freedom for their future and for their future generations to know that their sacrifice wasn't for naught.

Our final event was at one of their most difficult schools.

We spoke with master trainer Rua about her work.

Why is it difficult, the schools that you work with?

[speaking arabic] It's very difficult because there's people, they were persecuted by ISIS.

And the other, they were involved with ISIS.

Each side give his excuses.

And this wasn't just the children.

This was also the teachers, right?

There was a training.

And that whole up, one of the participants, the attendants, her brother was with ISIS.

And he killed the brother of another participant.

So that one who her brother was murdered, she wanted to withdraw from the program.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

So in the same classroom.

[speaking arabic] I talked with them both.

So she told them, they passed away both, but you are the loser.

If we continue in this.

If you keep going, yeah.

If you keep going, everyone's a loser.

But I think about how hard the work is that you do, and then for something like today-- Yes.

--where everyone can celebrate and see.

It's amazing.

[speaking arabic] I'm so happy.

And I'm surprised that they came and very excited to attend.

How are the children now?

[speaking arabic] Wow.

Wow.

You can't imagine the conceptual change occurred on students.

And one of the parents, she came and told her, you did a great job.

Let me tell you this.

And this is honest.

We hear a lot of stories, but this is a good story.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Very good story.

If it can change here, if the change can happen, then it inspires all of us.

We met Kais, a Hardwired master trainer outside the school towards the end of the event.

He is working to help train and advise the directorate of education in Mosul to empower them to continue the program on their own.

You were actually-- you're from Mosul?

All my life, I'm in Mosul.

Yeah, so this is a place you love.

Yes.

But it wasn't that long ago, we had ISIS come in.

Yes, right.

And a lot of people left-- Muslims and Christians or whatever.

Left.

But you, you decided to stay.

Stay.

I decided to stay.

Why did you stay?

Because it's my country.

It's my town.

When they come, my son is born.

Yes, sister and brother, my father and my mother, I can't leave.

Life stopped.

We heard that this family killed, this family, one killed.

You start to talk about the work that you do with Hardwired.

Growing up in this city, what do you think the impact is for you?

The important impact to me, that polarization.

I remember ISIS.

When he came to Mosul, he said that's his rules.

Yeah, the rules, yeah.

To all people.

Everyone who wants to change the rule, he will kill us.

He killed all the people.

[speaking arabic] It is not my life.

Right.

I love all the people.

I love the dignity, human dignity.

I remember in Hardwired, I've talk about a story.

The girl, she loved life.

And the judge asked to kill her because she changed the rule.

I remember this story too.

I sat through one of the trainings myself.

Yes.

This is Mary-- Mary Dyer.

Dyer.

Yes.

Mary Dyer was an American.

She was a Puritan.

Yes, Puritan.

And so when you think about the oppression that we had in the Northeast of the United States, in a very conservative area-- Exactly.

--these themes, these topics, they're universal.

Yes.

Everyone needs someone to protect human rights.

You have twins like me.

And you were saying earlier that when ISIS came, life stopped.

Yes, life stopped.

But now with your twins-- But now, life is fun.

--life started again.

Yeah, life started again.

Yes, yeah.

That's so beautiful.

And one day, your twin one-year-olds, they will grow up.

They will have their own families.

Yes.

Do you hope that they'll stay in Mosul?

Oh, I like it.

It's [arabic].

It's so interesting.

It's [arabic].

Yeah, it's so interesting.

Now, what a blessing it is that you're part of making Mosul the future for your children and their children.

And their children, and their children because it's my town.

And I love it so much.

[speaking arabic] The work Hardwired and Hammurabi are doing is facilitating change through partnership and an empowerment of the people to build the lives and communities they want to live in.

It is inspiring to see hope and healing in a city scourged by war and suffering.

Mosul always have a passion and a love for their home, rivaled only by their wish to restore it to the center of cultural and religious freedom it used to be.

Mosul, Iraq is not a place many people go yet.

Change is coming.

And the whole world deserves the opportunity to experience the heritage, the hospitality, warmth, and love of the Mosuali people.

Funding for The Good Road has been provided by-- What makes a good road?

Blazing a trail.

Making a difference.

Being unafraid to take the path of most resistance.

Toyota has a beyond zero vision for a carbon neutral future that lets you find your own good road with Toyota's electrified lineup including battery electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric vehicles designed to get you where you want to go-- from work, to school, or wherever your adventures take you.

Toyota is all about paving good roads.

Proud sponsor of The Good Road.

Toyota, let's go places.

Here in Asheville, we're a mixture of genres, a hybrid of styles, settling for nothing, hungry for everything, all drawn together to stand out.

You are welcome.

Always, Asheville.

Music is the great unifier with power to change the world.

Musicians create that positive change music each and every day.

In Your Ear Studios, diverse musicians creating diverse music that unifies.

Bank of America, what would you like the power to do?

Philanthropy Journal, stories about bold people changing the world.

The Buccaneer Beach and Golf Resort, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

[music playing] Take that money right on down the line.

Take that money right on down the line.

Take that money right on down the line.

Take that money right on down the line.