Role Models
“Who is your role model and why?”
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Christina Lamb. Because she is fearless. She embodies what it means to find your passion and pursue it, without ever looking back. Lamb is my role model because she is driven to tell the otherwise untold story. Where the battlefield meets humanity, Christina Lamb is willing to risk her life to show us this.
Author, Foreign Correspondent, and Mother, Lamb is the woman who can do it all. Sometimes, on those days that I just feel drained or tired or lost hope from my daily tasks as a mere student, I re-watch Lamb’s videos on YouTube or read one of her articles for motivation.
Her life is dramatic, yet she remains so composed.
“See, this is my ‘War Bag’”
Her empathetic voice and Central London-British accent catches your attention at this anything but mundane introductory phrase. I pause a moment in order to mentally collect the fact that she is literally packing a bullet-proof vest next to her healthy snacks in order to enter a War zone. She’s been to Karachi and Peshawar in Pakistan, Nigeria, Afghanistan, South Africa, Brazil, Iraq… Need I go on? These are places that not many people ‘dream’ of visiting, particularly during war. Yet, Lamb, since she was 22, has ventured down the road less traveled to find truth in the previously ignored story of women in war. She has documented Yazidi women in Iraq who have been abducted by ISIS as sex slaves, refugees on their journey from Syria to Europe, Malala Yousafzai’s story and more.
And while I have I not personally met her, I feel so connected to her and her mission in some ethereal way that cannot be explained beyond defining her as a role model.
Her light-natured attitude about her job is symbolised by her ability to toss a few jokes about needing her coffee-sachets sprung with caffeine more than her AK-47 protective vest or burqa to respect cultural norms in the Middle East. She holds herself strongly and remains brave even during the most life-threatening moments, moments where she literally wonders if she’ll ever return home to her family. While she is passionate about what she does, she recognises the risks. But for her, the story is well worth the risk.
I found her story by way of chance. I was quickly briefed on her in order to conduct her interview at an event she was scheduled to attend. But when last minute she had to catch a flight to an undisclosed location to cover an imminent story, I became first concerned, then fascinated and enthralled in the exciting life this woman leads. Throughout her work, she draws color from their personalities and intensity from the situations in which they reside. Lamb, too, finds her inspiration in the women she has interviewed, her mentors, and allows her career to be guided by the stories that she captures.
