Noel Hentschel Remembers Her Friend Benazir Bhutto as an Instrument for Peace, Who Like Mother Teresa, Devoted Her Life to Others
LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--Hentschel related that her last communication with Bhutto was when
she was in China. Knowing Benazir's love of China she asked if she
would like to meet her there. Bhutto responded on November 5, "I hope
you are well. I left Dubai suddenly for Pakistan because of the
imposition of emergency. Would love to catch up with you 'as and when
life allows.' Love to your children."
Concerned for Bhutto's safety, Hentschel said to her, "I contacted
Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity sisters around the world and
they are praying for you. They said they love you and appreciated your
speech in Cairo when you spoke out for pro-life. We all agree you are
God's instrument for peace. Take care. Hope to see you very soon."
She added that "Mother Teresa and Benazir Bhutto were both
peacemakers and I was blessed to have a personal relationship with
these inspirational and courageous women." The friendship between the
former Prime Minister and Hentschel spanned two decades. She knew
Bhutto to be a very selfless person who also loved and admired Mother
Teresa.
After meeting and working with Mother Teresa, Hentschel was
inspired to start The Noel Foundation in 1989. She began supporting
projects that help women to help their families via education. Through
The Noel Foundation she created the "Life" award, a program to honor
women who have made a difference in the world. After reading Bhutto's
autobiography, Daughter of Destiny, and learning she had written it
while spending seven years in solitary confinement, Noel knew the
first female Prime Minister of Pakistan should be honored for her
extraordinary life's work. Upon receiving the invitation, Bhutto
invited Hentschel to come to Islamabad to meet with her and visit many
women's organizations in Rawalpindi. Just before the former Prime
Minister was to be honored she was suddenly placed in prison -- so her
mother Begum Nusrat Bhutto accepted the award on her behalf. The
awards ceremony took place in 1990 at the United Nations and then
Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar presented The Noel
Foundation's "Life" award to Bhutto together with Margaret Thatcher,
Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister
of Norway and Corazone Aquino, President of the Philippines at a
Celebration of International Leadership. The award was presented a
second time to Bhutto personally in New York after she secured her
prison release and was free to travel.
Hentschel remembered once when she was planning a dinner for
Bhutto in Los Angeles (coincidentally this was during the time of the
OJ Simpson trial), she asked who would Bhutto like to have her invite
to the dinner? "I want to meet Marcia Clark," she said, "and my
husband wants to meet Robert Shapiro." During the dinner she said,
"Only in America could you have two opponents dining together, a
prosecutor and a defense attorney."
Hentschel and the former Prime Minister worked together for many
years on projects and programs to advance peace and economic
opportunities for women and their families. Hentschel's Noel
Foundation helped establish the Bahtawar Zardari project for girls in
the poorest region of Pakistan. Hentschel and Bhutto felt that
educating girls in Pakistan was one of the most essential investments
to be made to improve the country's future.
Bhutto was the first special guest speaker at Hentschel's
Stonepine Retreat in Carmel Valley at the Global Issue Forum
addressing peace in the Middle East. "She was completely committed to
her country," Hentschel recalled. "She put her country first before
anything else, even her own safety. She believed that her destiny was
to be a peacemaker and that God was guiding and using her as an
instrument."
Hentschel also said that Bhutto often opened up about her faith
and felt that Islam had taken a beating. "When you read the Koran, you
will learn that Islam is respectful of women and honors them," Benazir
said. "And anyone who does not -- is not a true follower of Islam."
Hentschel believes that Bhutto was a voice for her faith, a voice for
women and a voice for peace.
"My heart goes out to her husband Asif, to her three children who
were her life and to all who loved her. Her courageous example and
message to us of hope, reconciliation and the preservation of life
will endure through those she touched," Hentschel concluded.
Noel Irwin Hentschel is the CEO/Chair and co-Founder of
AmericanTours International (ATI), America's largest American-owned,
privately held, inbound tour operator, serving one-million visitors
annually from more than 70 countries around the globe.
Hanson & Schwam PR
Mike Casey, 310-248-4476 (direct)
Copyright Business Wire 2007
