Venue: 24 Greencoat Place
Date: 12th Spetember 2008We reached the Initiatives of Change HQ at 6:15pm and the programme was just about to start. There were six of them. Five men and one woman. They are young, well dressed and calmly waiting for the the host of the evening to start the introductions. They are all professionals from Iraq - Haider A. Hmood, a teacher in Diwanyia; Rashad Salman Khayala Al-Rubae, and Mohammed Jaafar Saeed, both medical doctors in Baghdad; Waleed Khalid Khazal, a student of English literature in Amara; Saifuldeen Zaman Sahib, a microbiologist in Baghdad University and the only woman in he group, Zeena Jaafar Mohammed, a gynaecology and obstretics doctor at Hillah General Hospital. Along with them on the stage was Nihad Salih Mahdi Al-Samarrai, the Political Affairs Officer, UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI).
Mohammed, the young doctor started the presentation with som pictures of Baghdad orientating the audince of what daily life was in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Obviously not good! Only 2-3 hours of electricity in the city of Baghdad which meant for most who can afford, buying generators which are the only means by which electricity at homes could be ensured to run for few more hours evey day. Then Rashad showed, through the pictures, the cultural aspect of Iraq - like the Baghdad Symphony Orchestra, freedom statue and street art galleries (artists have started using the barrier walls erected around the city as a concrete canvas to express their art).
Haider, the teacher from Diwanyia was next. he spoke about the problem of street children in Iraq after the war (well the war is still on...). He lamented that violence has broken his country and he feared that it will be reflected in the lives of the future generation - the children, especially the street children. He mentioned about the group's experience in Ireland, where they have been the week earlier, and how he was convinced that there needs to be forgiveness on the table for Iraqia to build the future. This was in context to the strong (violent) tension between the two sects - Shia and Sunni. He could not speak English and had Waleed translating for him. Waleed being a student of English literature was pretty fluent in English. So was Mohammed.
Zeena is a Senior House Officer (Gynaecology and Obstretics) and explained how the shortage of drugs and doctors in hospitals in Iraq is severely affected the people. Most of the doctors have either been killed or have migrated to other countries, including the UK. Alcohol addiction and abuse of women is becoming a disturbing trend, she says. She disagrees with the Ministry of Health, Baghdad that drugs are available, since in her experience, either drigs are unavailable most of the time or those that are available have expired!.
Waleed spoke about the hope that he and many Iraqis had for things to be better after the fall of Saddam, but were left with disappointment after disappointment to see the situation grew from bad to worse. There were shortages of textbooks and many University professors left the country. He told how his college was attacked 5 times and at one of the attackes, 100 studenst were killed. He didn't mention who made the attacks.
Saifuldeen, the mocrobiologist seemed to be the most senior in the group and he gave the vision for the future of Iraq, some elements of which included, working together and fighting selfishness (among the politicians), involving those who are not members of the government but with much insight and experience to participate in governing policies and that people should be encouraged to vote for the representatives of their choice. He ended with 'without peace there is no development and without development there is no peace'. Saifuldeen is also an aspiring politician.
These young Iraqis shared their experiences in London under the joint programme of the Kubba Foundation and British-Arab Exchanges (BAX) which has more than 30 years’ experience of arranging exchange visits, with the aim of building trust and respect between future decision-makers of the Arab countries and the West. BAX has in the past arranged exchange visits involving young people from the Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Sudan, Britain and other European countries to create and maintain a network of bridge-builders, train future opinion-leaders, provide space for dialogue, and focus on shared moral and spiritual values. The Kubba Foundation.is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that promotes the social development of the Iraqi people and supports the rebuilding of a strong and viable civil society in a land ravaged by war, violence and dictatorship. The Foundation supports educational projects that directly benefit the people of Iraq, regardless of religion, ethnicity or background.
Mohammed, the young doctor started the presentation with som pictures of Baghdad orientating the audince of what daily life was in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Obviously not good! Only 2-3 hours of electricity in the city of Baghdad which meant for most who can afford, buying generators which are the only means by which electricity at homes could be ensured to run for few more hours evey day. Then Rashad showed, through the pictures, the cultural aspect of Iraq - like the Baghdad Symphony Orchestra, freedom statue and street art galleries (artists have started using the barrier walls erected around the city as a concrete canvas to express their art).
Haider, the teacher from Diwanyia was next. he spoke about the problem of street children in Iraq after the war (well the war is still on...). He lamented that violence has broken his country and he feared that it will be reflected in the lives of the future generation - the children, especially the street children. He mentioned about the group's experience in Ireland, where they have been the week earlier, and how he was convinced that there needs to be forgiveness on the table for Iraqia to build the future. This was in context to the strong (violent) tension between the two sects - Shia and Sunni. He could not speak English and had Waleed translating for him. Waleed being a student of English literature was pretty fluent in English. So was Mohammed.
Zeena is a Senior House Officer (Gynaecology and Obstretics) and explained how the shortage of drugs and doctors in hospitals in Iraq is severely affected the people. Most of the doctors have either been killed or have migrated to other countries, including the UK. Alcohol addiction and abuse of women is becoming a disturbing trend, she says. She disagrees with the Ministry of Health, Baghdad that drugs are available, since in her experience, either drigs are unavailable most of the time or those that are available have expired!.
Waleed spoke about the hope that he and many Iraqis had for things to be better after the fall of Saddam, but were left with disappointment after disappointment to see the situation grew from bad to worse. There were shortages of textbooks and many University professors left the country. He told how his college was attacked 5 times and at one of the attackes, 100 studenst were killed. He didn't mention who made the attacks.
Saifuldeen, the mocrobiologist seemed to be the most senior in the group and he gave the vision for the future of Iraq, some elements of which included, working together and fighting selfishness (among the politicians), involving those who are not members of the government but with much insight and experience to participate in governing policies and that people should be encouraged to vote for the representatives of their choice. He ended with 'without peace there is no development and without development there is no peace'. Saifuldeen is also an aspiring politician.
These young Iraqis shared their experiences in London under the joint programme of the Kubba Foundation and British-Arab Exchanges (BAX) which has more than 30 years’ experience of arranging exchange visits, with the aim of building trust and respect between future decision-makers of the Arab countries and the West. BAX has in the past arranged exchange visits involving young people from the Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Sudan, Britain and other European countries to create and maintain a network of bridge-builders, train future opinion-leaders, provide space for dialogue, and focus on shared moral and spiritual values. The Kubba Foundation.is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that promotes the social development of the Iraqi people and supports the rebuilding of a strong and viable civil society in a land ravaged by war, violence and dictatorship. The Foundation supports educational projects that directly benefit the people of Iraq, regardless of religion, ethnicity or background.
The first thing that struck me was the determination in Haider's eyes. Then I noticed the 'hardness' in Zeena's voice...made hard by the 5 years of witnessing dictatorship ending only to bring in death and destruction I thought. I asked Haider if there was anything new that he learnt during his visit that he would try to do when he gets back to Iraq. He says he will teach the school children about forgiveness. There were few more questions, but at the end of the event, I was not convinced I heard what I was supposed to hear or maybe, I did not hear the young Iraqis say what I sensed, they really had to say. To be honest, I expected a story that would give an Iraqi viewpoint on the war, what was wrong and what is right, what should be done and what can be done. After, attending the 'public diplomacy' talk a day earlier, I was expecting certain output/outcome indicators of this diplomacy. But, it was good that they managed to get their visas (they recevied their visas a week late) to come to the UK and share their stories. I wish them well and all the best in their difficult walk ahead.
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