Lost and Found in Kuwait: One Woman's Spiritual Journey in the Desert

Under the cover of darkness Zanne Alder fled Kuwait. She had gone abroad, her spirit broken, hoping desperately to fulfill her ideals. Her new job did nothing to ease her angst. Kuwait might seem an odd place for a single woman to find solace. But Zanne was lured by the possibility of making meaningful educational change. "I have a bunch of teachers sitting around handing out worksheets and drinking coffee," the superintendent told her in the interview. "I want you to shake things up." Suddenly, Zanne was the new Vice Principal of Special Needs in an international school in Kuwait. The Middle East drew her in other ways as well. Thirty-five years earlier, Zanne had joined the Sufi Order (now the Inayati Order), often referred to as the mystical arm of Islam. She was interested to see if what she had learned in the West bore any resemblance to the Islam of the Middle East. As school began, it became clear that all was not right in the kingdom. The extremity of the situation threatened Zanne's health, physically, emotionally and spiritually. She called upon deep spiritual reserves to find a productive way forward. Zanne found inspiration in everything from Buddhism to Christianity, the Civil Rights Movement to Sufism. She found it in Australia, Jordan, Turkey and Sri Lanka. A path forward was revealed to Zanne. It was calm, centered, certain and loving. She took risks she could never have taken had she not been lost, and then found, in Kuwait. Alder's memoir is part spiritual journey, part travelogue and part educational treatise. She writes with unflinching honesty. "Lost in Kuwait is a riveting account of an American woman's journey down the rabbit hole of modern Kuwait. We see the jarring extremes of poverty and wealth, the dynamic changes of a culture in transition, and above all else, a heart-wrenching account of one woman struggling within a Kuwaiti private school. In doing so, she achieves spiritual growth beyond her own imaginings." - Melvin Morse, MD, Author of the New York Times bestseller, Closer to the Light.