(CNN) -- Meriem Ben Salah's 2-month-old will never know his mother's Tunisia.

He won't play in a neighborhood where government minders are lurking and watching.

He won't have to praise and thank the president before giving a book report.

He won't fear talking about politics, afraid that he'll say something the regime doesn't like.

"My son represents the new Tunisia," Ben Salah, a Tunisian native, recently told CNN. "I will tell him what I had to do and what I grew up with and he'll understand that now there is no fear. Fear left with Ben Ali. May he and that fear never come back."

A year ago, the 28-year-old posted an iReport about what it was like to grow up in Tunisia under former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. As she wrote, Tunisia was in the throws of a historic revolution, a movement that would spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Yemenis women show off their fists painted in the colors of five Arab national flags

The movement, known as the Arab Spring, was born in Tunisia with a street vendor's self-immolation last year on December 17.

Mohamed Bouazizi was reportedly pushed to such extraordinary ends after a municipal official and her aides were alleged to have harassed and humiliated him, and confiscated his goods. Tunisians viewed Bouazizi's act to be the ultimate protest against corruption in Ben Ali's government that they blamed for high unemployment and a lack of speech and political freedom.

Throngs of Tunisians took to the streets demanding the ouster of Ben Ali who became president in 1987. Following the 28-day Tunisian revolt that toppled Ben Ali, revolt spread in other countries: Egypt and the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The civil war in Libya and death of Moammar Gadhafi. Continued protests in countries such as Yemen and Bahrain. And a series of bloody demonstrations in Syria.

(CNN) -- Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation one year ago was an act which symbolized the frustration and desperation of millions in the Arab world, setting into motion a series of revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa.

His was a cry for dignity, justice, and opportunity, which continues to be heard around a region undergoing tumultuous change. In today's Middle East, people matter. Many are now engaged in what could be a life-long struggle to fight long-standing grievances and take greater control of their lives. This process must involve the creation of new democratic political systems, which ensure greater accountability of leaders, and level the playing field of opportunity for all, not just a select few.

Salman Shaikh

It has been a remarkable year. Three dictators have been toppled and one has transferred power to a deputy. Nonetheless, analysts and policy-makers continue to speak about the slow pace of change in the region and warn of the onset of an "Arab Winter." Such distinctions -- spring and winter -- are misleading. Many seasons will come and go in the transformative years that lie ahead for the Arab world. Revolutions take time to settle. The transformation of societies takes even longer. The colored revolutions of Eastern Europe, two decades on, are still developing. It took centuries for democratic systems to be refined in Europe. We cannot expect democracy in the Middle East to be solidified in only one year.

Still, across the region, there is cause for concern. Egypt's transition to civilian rule carries major worries, even as Egyptians continue to go to the polls. The concern remains that the ruling military council will relinquish power only under heavy pressure; and Egypt's economy and confidence are in nosedive as the populace awaits civil rule. Syrians meanwhile face a regime intent on killing and torturing its citizens to end their uprising. All this as a largely impotent international community argues over how to stop the increasing violence.

In Yemen, many are not convinced by a regionally brokered transition deal, which allows Saleh and his family immunity from prosecution as well as continued political influence. Bahrain continues to reel from the absence of a genuine national dialogue between its rulers and the underrepresented and relatively impoverished majority Shia community. Libya's revolutionaries now face the immediate challenge of building a state from scratch, based on the rule of law and democratic principles. To do so, they are learning, they will first have to put down their guns.
While events elsewhere in the region have been less dramatic, the desire for change is still palpable. Under popular pressure, Morocco now has an elected prime minister under a revised constitution; Jordan's king has been forced to change the government twice this year; Oman's Sultan has devolved some powers to his consultative council. Only time will tell if people accept these changes as going far enough to meet their rising expectations.

As the respected Arab commentator Rami Khouri somewhat prophetically predicted last year, we are witnessing the "birth of Arab politics." For the first time, people have a voice and the opportunity to launch new parties and institutions, independent of the autocratic rulers and external interference that long stifled political development. Civil society organizations, the "software" of any democratic system, have mushroomed in transitional states such as Egypt and Tunisia. A truly democratic and accountable political culture is finally developing in the region.

Undoubtedly, the biggest political winners over the past year have been Islamist parties, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood movement. As real Arab politics emerges, this is not surprising. One should accept that today, the center of gravity of the region's societies' is religiously pious, socially conservative, and economically liberal. The rise of the Brotherhood and the more fundamentalist Salafi parties is a natural legacy of years of political exclusion, and economic corruption and stagnation. As the West looks on, it should be remembered that a faith-inspired vision led to the establishment of the American state itself.

(CNN) -- One year ago, Tunisian fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi torched himself out of economic despair, and the news of his desperate act spread like a brushfire across the North African country, through the rest of the Arab world and around the globe.

His plight touched a chord in Tunisia, stirring popular anger and protest. Less than a month after the self-immolation, Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali was ousted from power.

The Tunisian revolution emboldened Egyptians. Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center and fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, constantly heard about Bouazizi and Tunisia in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. They couldn't believe that such open protest to a long-standing dictatorship could unfold. Subsequently, an Egyptian uprising took hold and President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power.

In another corner of the Arab world, Ibrahim Mothana, a Yemeni activist, said the self-immolation and the ouster of Ben Ali stunned his fellow Yemenis because citizens actually confronted "a police state, where you cannot react." After months of massive demonstrations, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh is now on his way out of office under a power transition plan brokered by a coalition of Gulf Arab states.

"I think he resonated everywhere," Shaikh said. "As the narrative was told, as the story was told it did strike a chord with so many Arabs."

Bouazizi was an unknown street vendor struggling to feed his family by selling fruit, earning the equivalent of barely $10 a day as he pushed his cart through the streets of Sidi Bouzid in central Tunisia.

Tunisian on life one year later: No fear

On the morning of December 17, a female municipal inspector named Faida Hamdy accosted Bouazizi. An altercation erupted during which the inspector seized Bouazizi's produce.


After the incident, the humiliated fruit vendor repeatedly tried and failed to get the attention of town officials. Finally, he purchased fuel, doused himself with it, and lit a lethal flame outside the gates of the governorate building.

"These government inspectors used to confiscate our goods and demand bribes," says Bouazizi's uncle Ridha, who also operates a fruit cart in downtown Sidi Bouazid. "It was because of their tyranny that Mohamed set himself on fire."

Almost immediately, protests erupted in Sidi Bouzid and then quickly spread to other cities and towns across the country. Bouazizi died of his injuries in a hospital on January 4.

(CNN) -- Egyptian doctor Amany Sadek was treating patients in a makeshift hospital close to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday when the building was surrounded by armed forces.

The doctors turned their lights off, kept quiet and were unable to let anyone in or out of their doors.

"It was horrible, we could hear shots outside," said Sadek.

"We carried on treating patients in the dark. When we opened the doors an hour or so later, we found people desperately looking for somewhere to be treated.

"I was scared and my friends were scared, but you kind of get used to it," she said. "Despite the attacks, the hospital is still one of the safest places to be."
We carried on treating patients in the dark
Amany Sadek, Tahrir Doctors Society

Sadek is one of the founders of the Tahrir Doctors Society, a group of volunteers that formed after spontaneously treating protesters injured during Egypt's revolution in January.

Last Friday, when violence broke out between protesters and security forces after the second round of voting in parliamentary elections, the society set up its makeshift hospital for the fifth time this year.

The interior ministry has said at least 100 security officers have been wounded in the clashes. CNN has not been able to independently verify this claim.

The field hospital in Omar Makram mosque near Tahrir Square was still in place and stocked with necessary supplies since the last clashes in November. The doctors were able to re-open it quickly to treat victims of the new wave of violence.

"We got a call at 5 a.m. to say the army were attacking people sleeping in their tents," Sadek said. "By the time we got there we found lots of casualties, so we re-opened the hospital and it was ready to go straight away."

"We have treated over 1,000 wounded patients since Friday, and lots of people have been transferred to other hospitals for surgery.

"We are seeing all kinds of injuries, many from live bullets."

The society said on Saturday that one of its members had been shot in the stomach and others had been threatened with arrest.

Tahrir Doctors Society currently has about 20 volunteer doctors on duty at any time of the day or night. It's facility is a short distance from Tahrir Square; other makeshift hospitals closer to the scene of the clashes have had more trouble continuing with their work.


"The army attacked one of the other field hospitals. The doctors were told to leave or they would be attacked, and the army took their drugs and burned them," Sadek said.

(CNN) -- Over a million visitors travel to the rock-cut architectural wonders of Petra, Jordan each year.

The magnificent rose-red city was first established sometime in the 6th century B.C. by an ancient nomadic tribe called the Nabataeans.

At the crossroads between Arabia, Egypt, and Syria-Phonecia, it became one of the most vibrant trading hubs in the region -- a caravan center for the silks of China, the spices of India and the incense of Arabia.

Today, tourists must make the two kilometer walk down a narrow gorge known as "The Siq" before being rewarded with the awe-inspiring sight of the dusky-pink face of Al-Khazneh or the "Treasury."

It is the first of an array of magnificent sights, including elaborate rock-cut tombs, sacrificial altars, a roman amphitheater and the Al-Deir monastery, housed in the 264,000 square meters of Petra Archeological Park.

Few realize that among these relics of an ancient people there are still those living in the area that maintain the traditional nomadic way of life.

"(The Bedouins) are here as controller for these caves, for all Petra. Because Petra is very important to them," said Jehad Hamadeen of the Petra Archaeological Park.
The Bedouin community has been drifting across the sand since long before Jordan existed. The name in their native tongue of Arabic literally means "desert dwellers," and for centuries they have carved a life in this harsh landscape.

Despite often being isolated, the Bedouin people are known for their hospitality to travelers and are often happy to share a meal with visitors they come across.

(CNN) -- Nine-year-old Mahmood Ahmed was playing near his home in Zintan, western Libya, when he found a green object he had never seen before.

He wanted to know what was inside, so took it into his backyard and began hitting it with a stone.

The object was a bullet from an anti-aircraft machine gun and it exploded, taking off his left hand. He is now getting used to life with a plastic hand.

Mahmood is one of the accidental child victims of the war that toppled Colonel Moammar Gadhafi in August and he is far from alone.

The International charity Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which highlighted his case, has recorded 90 casualties -- mostly children -- from similar accidents involving mines and unexploded ordinance left over from the war in the region of Zintan and Misrata alone this year.
The organization also recorded 45 casualties in Libya's Western Mountains and is still trying to gather data from accidents in the rest of the country.

Among the statistics were several members of the same family in Ajdabiya in June. Three-year-old Shada Yonis brought a hand grenade into the living room and pulled out the pin. Her father, Yonis Sala, who tried to shield his children, was killed, as was Shada, and five-year-old Shema. Her mother, eight-year-old brother Sulah and two other children were seriously injured.

Two children were killed on Saturday, December 10, in Sirte when a device exploded as people were compiling a museum of weaponry from the war, MAG said.

As well as gaining information on contaminated areas and clearing them, MAG is trying to educate communities on the dangers.

Libyans find voice in new era of press freedom
Louise Skilling, the group's regional community liaison manager, said: "There is a lot of contamination in houses and residential areas.

"Accidents are mainly involving children -- particularly teenage boys -- who don't understand the danger of handling items.

"We are trying to change behavior among young boys and the best way to do that is through their mothers.

"We are working through schools, women's groups and door-to-door in contaminated areas. "

She added: "The number of accidents has increased since the war ended because people who were displaced are returning to their homes and trying to get their lives back together.

(CNN) -- In an otherwise smart suburb of Beirut is a small prison housing some of the women Lebanese society would rather forget.

Some of the 70 inmates of Baabda Prison are accused or convicted of murdering their husbands, others of drug trafficking.

Many of the women have themselves been victims of circumstance all their lives and are now for the first time discovering they have a voice, according to Zeina Daccache, an actress and drama therapist working with the inmates.

Several times a week for the past six months, Daccache has spent an afternoon with the women encouraging them to talk about their experiences committing.

In February or March, the project will culminate in a performance called "Scheherazade in Baabda," named after the fictional Persian Queen and narrator of One Thousand and One Nights, and based around the women's own stories.
Among the 20 prisoners involved is Fatme, now 26, and awaiting trial for a murder she denies.

In video footage of the project, Fatme said: "I never learned to say no. I was always obedient, saying yes to my very early marriage, saying yes to my parents who forbid me to get divorce. Now I'm learning that I have a voice and it can spell no."

Libya's accidental child victims

Daccache, who has a weekly political satire show on Lebanese television and also runs a drama therapy center Catharsis, said the project - funded by the Swiss-based Drosos Foundation - had empowered the women and for the first time gave them an opportunity to express themselves.

She said: "You would be amazed how many are there for murder and it's mostly for killing their husbands. They were married at 12 or 13 years old to someone they had never met before.
"They were pregnant at 13 and had husbands who beat them or had psychological issues. If they went to their family or to the police for protection, they would just be told it was a domestic issue.

"They ended up protecting themselves with their own hands. They are not saying their crimes were the best solution, but in some ways they had no other choice."

Daccache said several other inmates were in jail for drug trafficking and their young children were left on the streets.

"If the woman and her husband are both in prison, there is no protection for their children if they don't have families who take them," she said.

Other inmates who are serving shorter sentences for adultery have joined the project for a limited period but will be released before the final production.

(CNN) -- An engineering firm has unveiled plans to turn the Eiffel Tower into a vast, tree-like monument by cladding its mesh iron body in over 600,000 plants.

The controversial proposal from Ginger -- a French company that specializes in ecological design projects -- would cost $97 million and remove 87.8 tons of carbon dioxide from the Paris skies, according to the company's calculations.

Ginger CEO Jean-Luc Schonebelen concedes that it is probably not the most efficient form of carbon sequestration, but says the idea -- which has so far received no official endorsement from Paris City Council -- could have profound symbolic value.

"We're told that within the next 30 years the world's population may reach nine billion, and that 80% of us will live in cities," says Schonebelen, referring to projections from the U.N. Population Division released earlier this year.

"With this in mind, we need to think about how we're going to start bringing nature back into the city landscape ... so this (proposal) is our call for action."

If Schonebelen has his way, thousands of hemp sacks brimming with soil and 48 varieties of seedlings would be fastened to "La dame de fer" -- or "the iron lady," the tower's French nickname -- by the end of next year.

Irrigated via a 12-ton grid of interconnected rubbing tubing, the plants would likely mature by 2014 and would be nurtured until their removal two years later.

"Of course we're not suggesting this be a permanent fixture, we're proposing this as a temporary installation -- just as Mr Eiffel did when he built the tower back in the 19th century," says Schonebelen.

Staff at Ginger have been developing the mechanics behind the proposal for the past 18 months. The company employs over 1,500 people and has a turnover of €230 million a year, according to Schonebelen.