[Media-watch] Fw: Iraq -The Children of Iraq(Pt 2)

[David McKnight]

----- Original Message -----
From: kevin williams <youthaidiraq at hotmail.com>
To: <youthaidiraq at hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 1:39 PM
Subject: Iraq -The Children of Iraq(Pt 2)


> This is the second part of Helen's account of the overall state of the
> varying conditions that Iraq's children have to endure. We must all bear
in
> mind the long term phychological damage that they have already suffered
and
> will continue to suffer. We must ask ourselves is any of this suffering
> acceptable and what effect it will have on Iraq's future adult generation.
> The photo attachment of part one showed the body of a nine year boy, who
had
> been hit in the head by an American sniper - he died. The two photos
> attached to this part show some orphan's playing football in an orphanage
in
> Baghdad; whilst the other shows nine year olds who work eighteen hours a
day
> in a brick factory.
> Kevin Williams.
>
> Hi                                                             Amman  12
> December 2004
>
> Part Two - The Children of Iraq
>
> We hear a lot, but not enough, in my opinion, of the physical injuries
> inflicted on civilians and children in war and its aftermath. The injured
> children that did not die are left to cope with life changing
de-abilitating
> injuries, lost limbs or disfiguring scars or burns with no counselling or
> compensation to help them.
> Contrast this with children in our country who can receive counselling
after
> the death of a grandparent or a car accident when they were not even
> injured.
>
> In report 'the Evil of Cluster Bombs', I told you about 9 year old Mustafa
> who had lost 6 fingers and the sight in one eye after handling a cluster
> bomb on a CLEARED Iraqi, then subsequently US Army base. I told you how a
> once cheerful, outgoing child has become an almost silent shadow of his
> former self, withdrawn, sad and depressed.
>
> However, I have not told you about Sa'ad before. Sa'ad is 16 and lived on
> the streets of Bagdad during the summer of 2003. He used to sleep near the
> Sheraton/Palestine Hotel complex, making a little money to survive by
> carrying stuff for hotel guests and selling bits and bobs. He is a quiet,
> reserved, calm boy and his story mirrors so many of those of the other
boys
> living on the streets who we befriended and tried to help, except for one
> thing - Sa'ad is just about completely blind.
> Messed up, povery-stricken and unhappy before this horrific injury befell
> him, it is his blindness that tipped him over the edge into a life on the
> streets.
> He'd had problems at home in Sadr City after his mohter had died and his
> father had remarried an Egyptian woman. Eventually the father and his new
> wife had moved to Basra, leaving Sa'ad in Sadr City to live with his older
> brothers. They were so so poor and Sa'ad used to collect scrap aluminium
> from rubbish tips for recycling to make a little money to help make ends
> meet for him and his brothers.
> One day in 2000 he was doing this when he came across an unexploded
munition
> from the 1991 Gulf War. He had not touched it with his hand (or he would
> have lost these too), but he had just disturbed it and it exploded in his
> face. His face was covered in little burns which have scarred him for
life,
> but so much more serious that these, is the loss of his sight. Completely
> blind in one eye - the eyeball is just totally white - and with a tiny
> amount of vision in the other eye, Sa'ad could no longer cope. He ran away
> from home and ended up living in the House of Mercy Children's Home in
Sadr
> City. Then the war came, which messed up and affected Sa'ad even more (if
> that was possible) and he ran away from the children's home to the streets
> where he started sniffing thinner, glue and taking arten tablets.
> In about August 2003 he disappered from the streets and in the chaos of
post
> war occupied Bagdad, no one knows where poor Sa'ad went and where he is
now.
> One thing is certain, if he is still alive, his future is very bleak and
> sure to be troubled. In a country where 75% are umemployed who would give
a
> blind, uneducated boy a job? His mind is sure to be so traumatised and
> psychologically scarred, it is hard to see how Sa'ad will ever cope in
> future years.
>
> Another troubled teenager was one of our young men, Hayder 'with the
knee'.
> Having run away from his home in Amara due to family problems, his
problems
> became so much worse on the streets of Bagdad. Having picked up a nasty
> thinner habit which he has until now found extremely difficult to kick,
life
> suddenly became dreadfully difficult for Hayder one afternoon in May 2003.
> The occupation was in full swing and chaos ruled on Bagdad's streets.
> Everyone had guns and law and order were non-existant. Hayder, walking up
> Saduun Street, was shot. He ended up with a bullet through the knee - side
> to side. Other street boys carried him to hosptial where he spent 2 weeks
> before leaving with a limp for life. (Luckily for Hayder the hosptial
> treated him for free, but they had to push him out early due to the amount
> of casualties they were receiving daily - his treatment was no where near
> complete.) He returned to life on the streets and his thinner habit which
he
> had still not entirely got rid of (despite living in the boys' home) when
I
> left Iraq.
> So here we have another messed up young man who found himself on the
> streets, where life and mind became so much worse. I ask myself once
again,
> what can the future hold for this young man?
>
> Another thing common to Hayder, Sa'ad and little Ahmed, mentioned above,
is
> the horror of self-harming or self-mutilation. Indeed, this is something
> that most of the boys we tried to help had either done at some time in the
> past, or did now.
>
> Little Ahmed had taken a utensil from one of the boy's shoe cleaning boxes
> and scratched his forearm with it in front of me in January. Luckily the

> cuts were not that deep and they barely bled. It was really more of an
> attention grabbing action and an "I want a bandage trophey" thing, but it
> showed he is disturbed in some way.
> All the boys liked to go to the doctors - it made them feel special and
> important and as if someone cared. The day Ahmed did this, he cheered up
> considerably when I took him to the doctors for a little bandage.
>
> Other boys' self-harming was too horrific for words:
>
> Once Omar, 19, took a razor to his arm in a rage of self-abuse and
> self-pity. He really meant to harm himself and the cuts were deep and
> serious. Finding a taxi that would take us to hospital proved near
> impossible, more than 5 refused, and persuading the staff at the hosptial
to
> keep Omar in overnight was impossible, as I have detailed in an earlier
> report.
> Omar is still a shockingly disturbed young man. Whenever I see the high
> ridges of the red slash scars on his forearms, I shudder - they look
horrid
> and they bring back vivid memories of that dreadful night in December
2003.
>
> As I said many of 'our' boys had histories and scars of self-harm.
> Perhaps one of the saddest and most upsetting caes was that of Ahmed
Omara,
> 16. A handsome boy with long dark hair when we first met him in the
> basement, he soon kicked his thinner habit and showed us hidden talents.
He
> was a natural sportsman and showed skill in karate, football and judo -
> anything physical. He also became good at art, drawing and metal work.
And
> he developed  self confidance and became quite grown up and sensible,
almost
> leading and guiding the other smaller boys in some ways.
> One day we visited the boys' home at Al Wazerya, just as Ahmed was
returning
> from hospital, his arm heavily dressed. It turned out that earlier he had
> wrongly accused Hayder 'with the knee' of taking 'drugs'. On discovering
> that he was wrong about Hayder he had taken a knife to his arm to transfer
> the mental anguish of guilt to the physical pain of the cuts and blood. On
> his return from hospital he was still sobbing loudly. It was harrowing to
> see this potentially fantastic youngster descend back to something he had
> depended on before to take the mental pain away.
> He is scarred all over - his chest is particularly bad - a battleground of
> scars from self-inflicted deep cuts and wounds.
>
> Two young men who I do not even consider as 'big boys', but who lived on
the
> streets all the same had some of the worst scars I had ever seen.
> Ali and Ahmed, both in their early-mid twenties, were not the sort of
young
> men who I could ever try to help. They are victims in their own way, I
> guess, but unlike the other big boys who used to use the littler boys for
> begging and stealing, these two were beyond approach.
> These two were rough, I mean nasty rough. I would only go near them with
> other men around me and only when I had to. To show you how bad they were
I
> can tell you that Ali is actually now in prison for life for a murder he
> committed in summer 2003. And all the boys, both big and small, were
> terrified of them - they used to do terrible things.
> One day I had to go near them. I had heard that Hussein, one of my
favorites
> of the older boys, was around again and swimming in the Tigris with some
of
> the other boys. I went to the river bank to see him. I stood high up on
the
> bank above the water and could see him out in the middle of the river far
> away. Hussein saw me too. I don't know how he did it, but he was out of
the
> water, climbing through the reeds and running up the bank to embrace me in
a
> soaking wet hug within seconds - he was so happy. This joyful reunion
> brought all the other boys up the bank behind him and with them Ali and
> Ahmed bare chested.
> Of course, the older men, however 'bad', being Muslims, covered themselves
> up immediately, a woman being present. But not before I saw Ali's chest. I
> had never seen anything like it. Huge pink/red scars crisscrossed the
brown
> skin. They had not been stiched and so had healed 1 - 2 inches thick in
> places. What could ever have happened to him to make him do this to
himself?
> What could ever have happened to him to make him shoot someone in public
> toilets for money?
> Both Ali and Ahmed were scarred and both were the worst I had ever come
> across in Bagdad. Neither of them ever hurt or threatened me, but the
terror
> they inflicted on the other boys was really too much.
>
> So many of the boys had or continued (albeit in some cases occassionally)
to
> self-harm. Those boys and the ones who did not do this would also become
> upset more easily than most other children.
>
> I have watched play fights between Laith and Ahmed turn serious and nasty,
> requiring adult arms to pull them and hold them aprt.
> Other boys have terrible tempers - one boy stabbed another in the face
with
> a spoon, because he had brought 'drugs' and disrepute into their shared
> bedroom in the house. But the boy that did the stabbing was one of the
worst
> we knew for thinner and bringing it into the house anyway.
> And through all this violence and loss of temper we aloways see lots of
> tears - usually because they are sorry, but often for other reasons that
we
> don't always get to the bottom of.
>
> One day in April we went to see the few boys still hanging out by the
> basement near the Palestine Hotel. I had not seen them for a almost a week
> due to a spate of kidnappings - we'd had to stay in and even on this day
to
> go out meant that I had to wear my all covering chadoor.
> There were just three boys there on this day. Omar,19, was sleeping under
a
> overhang of a building behind some razor wire and didn't want to wake up.
> Mohmmed, around 18, was fussing about Omar and Bashir,15, who he was
trying
> to look after. Mohammed and Bashir were hungry so we took them to a cheap
> restaurant on Saduun Street for beans, tepsi (eggplant soup) and rice.
> Mohammed would not eat and suddenly descended into floods of tears. There
> was nothing I could do with the the poor boy - he would not eat a morsal,
so
> Wejdy sat close to him and talked to him gently for over an hour. Mohammed
> said the reason for his tears and refusal of food was because of his older
> brother of whom he was terrified - he had tried to shoot Mohammed before.
> Several days later, Mohammed admitted that the tears was nothing to do
with
> his brother, they were just because Omar had not woken up and come to eat
> with him and he missed him.
> Now, Mohammed is not a bad boy. He tries to help and guide the smaller
boys
> well. Once he even tried to stop Bashir being kidnapped by a gang. He
tries
> so hard. But he still does the full range of 'drugs' - thinner, glue and
> tablets. But he is kindly and sweet.
>
> Omar too, although 19, likes a good cry. He often feels sorry about
> something naughty he has done and will look for someone to hug, tears
> rolling down his face, making his long dark eyelashes look even longer
when
> they are wet. He knows very little English but always manages "I'm sorry,
> I'm sorry'.
>
> There is always tears, upset and drama with the boys. But there have
always
> been plenty of moments of sheer happiness and joy which make it all
> worthwhile - I treasure them all.
>
> There were only ever a few girls on the street, thankfully - you have
heard
> of three of them - Zeinab, Zimin and Doa. All 3 of them are prostitutes.
> Zimin, 12, used to hang around with Doa, also 12. In the deeply troubled
> country of Iraq, predominantly Muslim, we find two 12 year old girls
selling
> themselves.
>
> Zimin had run away from home and had cut her hair short to look like a boy
> in case her father came looking for her. She would live in one of the
> childrens' homes - either Child House or House of Mercy for a spell and
then
> come back to the streets and then go back to one of the childrens' homes
and
> so on. She also used to sleep in the Americans' tank by the Palestine
Hotel
> a lot. None of the boys ever slept in there - just Zimin and it was known
> that soldier(s) were having sex regularly with both her and Doa. The last
> news we had about her was that she was back in the House of Mercy in Sadr
> City.
>
> Doa is hard, nasty and rough. She will regularly beat up the other boys
and
> girls. And she is tiny. Throughout the summer she was hanging out with
> Zeinab on Saduun Street and by Karamana Roundabout in Kerrada - her
> 'boyfriend', Ruda, 12, had come out of the boys' home in Al Wazerya to
visit
> her for a week or so - he was having a time of it too - high on glue
> everytime I saw him and refusing to go back. In the end he'd had enough
and
> agreed to return. I had spent the week refusing to buy him food, saying
that
> there was plenty of food in Al Wazerya and it worked.
> Doa went home for a bit too, but not for long. She reappeared on the
> streets, then went home again. I did not see her for over a month before I
> left Iraq - hopefully she was still living at home.
>
> Zeinab,22, hardened by a life on the streets, is nothing like as bad or as
> mean as Doa, 10 years her junior. I have always found Zeinab to be polite,
> smiley and pleasant and she does not have the nasty reputation that Doa
> carries, about whom I could tell story after story. Poor Zeinab, her face
is
> a badly scarred from a knife attack.
> Throughout the summer I saw her a few times here and there, usually up on
> Saduun Street, then she disappeared.
> Apparantly, around a month earlier, she had been sitting on Saduun Street
> with Mohammed Saduun an others when a car had pulled up and some men
jumped
> out and grabbed her. Mohammed Saduun and others tried to wrestle her from
> their grip to no avail and Zeinab was dragged off to the car. Further up
the
> street she somehow managed to jump out of the car, but her
> attackers/kidnappers shot her in the leg as she ran away. Luckily,
Mohammed
> Saduun and Co were not far behind and they whisked her off to hospital for
> treatment.
> Then we heard nothing for a time - Zeinab was not around central Bagdad -
> until we bumped into her younger sister, Fatin, in Kerrada. She told us
that
> Zeinab had married and moved back to Kirkuk. I just hope it's true and I
> hope she is happier and has a better life now.
>
> The people of Iraq have suffered long enough. Here I have just tried to
> highlight, with some examples, the tragedies that have occurred and that
> continue to happen. The children suffer most, even with the 'simple'
things
> like the cuts in electricity. They wake up crying in the summer months
when
> there is no electricty to run air-conditioning or fans. I have seen
parents
> trying to comfort their restless babies on balconies in the middle of the
> night and walking their infants to the main road just to get some air from
> the breeze there in the blackout.
> The psychological scars and PTSD experienced by the whole population will
> only add to Iraq's problems. And the psychological difficulties faced by
the
> children cannot bode well for the future. The hard life the children faced
> from sanctions, war and ongoing occupation are building up in the form of
> the problems I have discussed here. Add to this the resentment they feel
> towards the West who they, although young, see as the bringer of all their
> suffering.
> America and Britain, through their ongoing bullying and criminal behaviour
> towards the nation of Iraq, have created a psychological catastrophe. This
> is manifesting itself in the children in violence, silence, tears and
> self-harm.
> What Iraq needs is an army, not of soldiers, but of psychologists and
> psychiatrists, armed not with guns, but with love and concern for this
> battered, suffering population.
>
> All for now
> Helen Williams
> Amman  Jordan
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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