A Family in Baghdad

Friday, May 16, 2008

Peace be upon you…
By God I miss writing, I haven't written since a long time; I've been busy, busy, busy…
My new job is exhausting, and interesting, at the same time; with long hours of work, and many tasks, so I seldom sit down and find myself without something to do for a day…
Days and weeks pass by quickly, and I await a suitable day off to sort my thoughts and start writing…. And thank God, today I decided to remain at home during the weekend to write some of my latest news, and why I was not available…… and I want to give you a view about the nature of my new job…
I go to work at about (8:30) in the morning, get into my office, start my computer, and check if there are any e-mails through the internal mail of the organization I work with; I mean- an-inside e-mail among the employees. I also check my personal e-mail and see if there is anything important to deal with. Then I start working, sinking into the details little by little; papers on my desk or in the drawers, expenditure receipts , draft reports about the project that should be typed and sent to the parties that requested them, a meeting draft that should be typed and sent to the party that requested it, and sorting all these papers into special appropriately- titled files… then I would put the expenditure receipts for the branches working on the project into Excel sheets, print them, then put them into a file, attached to the receipts; each on a separate A4 sheet…
My work as a project coordinator involves all these boring details; there is no secretary, there is an assistant, and she dose the same office work with me, but I carry the bigger responsibility, for I shall be asked and be held accountable by the organization's manager or the donor , for any shortcomings in the project… then the nine branches should be contacted, to learn about their latest news and activities, to notify them of any new information, or about a meeting on coming days….
If there were some contacts to be made with the branches, it should be listened to; and a reasonable solution should be given to each problem; a financial problem, perhaps, or a technical matter about implementing the project, or even personal conflicts among the employees… there is also the budget to be followed-up; its details and how to spend each item, pursuing the developments in it to reduce some items or add some items, and debating with the financer about these steps….
Then, there are meetings now and then, either inside the organization to explain and clarify some financial or administrational matters, or with the donor to brief him on what has been accomplished in the project, and to listen to new instructions about financing or the relations with other partners implementing other projects concerning the Iraqis, or perhaps a meeting with people seeking aid, or organizations wanting to help the Iraqis through new projects and are looking for ideas and suggestions….
I go back home at 4 p.m., totally exhausted, my mind spinning with what I heard today and what I shall do tomorrow, or next week. But in spite of all this mental and psychological pressure I find myself satisfied because I work to help the Iraqis, to deliver their complaints to the organizations so that the level of performance should improve on the ground of reality…
And this job is the only thing that gives me patience for leaving Iraq, and all that I love there…
As for the financing of small projects for some poor Iraqi families here; well, I didn't stop doing this. I still receive phone calls from families, or be informed by someone about them, then I would check the matter, and then ask for help from my friends or pay from my private money, to finance a project like a sewing machine or a beauty saloon at home, a used computer with a printer, or other such projects that women can carry out at home to earn a small income that would cover some of their families' needs….
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Some of the organizations working in Jordan for the Iraqis ,under the umbrella of UNHCR , are international organizations, like "Save the children", "Care", "caritas", and "relief international", … while others are local organizations like the "Jordanian Red Crescent", the "Jordanian Women's Union", and the "National Alliance to fight Hunger"…., the projects carried out by the organizations vary; from providing health, educational, or recreational services, Psycho-Social and legal consultations, or providing food rations or cash money for the very poor families.
Our project involves providing legal and Psycho-Social services for women, and educational services for women, too; (computer training and English language free courses), free lessons for students (Arabic, English, Math, and computer training), also there are recreational services for children too; and a Puppet- show project for kids and mothers, to teach them the Art of Communication by using Marionettes…
Of course, people need cash money in the first place, and food rations, free health care and education for the children, then come the other needs; like the psychological and social counseling, or recreational and cultural services, I mean- the Iraqis are also like other humans who need recreation, culture and enlightenment, not just money and food…
It is clear that the organizations that offer the money and food have limited budgets, because they offer services for a limited number of families, and this is a sad thing; because they cannot cover the needs of all the destitute families, and this is a clear defect in the organizations' performance here, but it seems the main reason is the shortage of financing…
I mean- is it fair or logical that America is spending billions of dollars to send tanks and missiles, fighter planes and armed soldiers, to kill civilians and destroy cities and the infrastructure of Iraq, while humanitarian organizations are begging for $100 million dollars to help the Iraqi refugees?
Is it worth the price of a missile targeted at Iraq? The price of a tank? A fighter plane? What is the percentage of comparison between what is being spent upon war actions, combats and bloodshed, to what is being spent to improve the lives of civilians in Iraq; like building a hospital or a school, or fulfilling the needs of millions of displaced people inside Iraq, and refugees in the neighboring countries?
And who does this? America and Bush's government? Aren't they the same people who feign crying upon human rights?
Where are the Human Rights?
Who dedicates the biggest budget to kill people, isn't it the same American government?
And what is the budget dedicated to making peace on earth, to helping the poor, the sick, and the devastated among world countries?
The budgets of governments speak about their true intentions, not the empty, lying talk that fills the media pages; the one-eyed, blind, lame, and retarded media that rules the world and broadcast lies day and night.
Most of America's budget is directed to war, (more than 50% of their budget is for military purposes); so, it is a country that spreads destruction and ruin among people on earth, and doesn't spread justice, freedom, or democracy, as they claim…..
Unfortunately, these are actual facts, and I do not invent them myself….
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I used to smile and wonder, like all the Iraqis, without exception, do: where is the Iraqi oil's money? Where is the Iraqi government's role in supporting the Iraqis, inside Iraq and out? Who is the decision-maker to achieve justice, and fulfill the poor people's needs?
Usually, no one knows the answer….
These are questions that go without an answer…
I mean, the most difficult questions might be those asked innocently by a young child: Where is God, the Lord of all creatures? Can I see Him? And the mother would try simply to make him understand the difficult equation; that God, Praise His name, exists, but we do not see Him, and these are the evidences of His existence; the creation of heaven and earth, of mountains, the moon, the sun, the planets, the seas, the rivers, His creation of humans, plants, and animals, how everything moves in a balanced, perfect system. All this couldn’t have happened by chance; there is a great Creator for all this, God, Praise His name, the best Creator… as for humans, they are imperfect creatures, who oppress, kill, shed blood, and spread corruption, but among them there is a faction that believes their mission on earth is to achieve justice, and stop corruption and bloodshed…
And another worrying question comes up: how did these people become the decision makers in their countries? How do we push the clean, straight, uncorrupt, non-thieving, and non-blood shedding people to become world leaders?
This is a question that has been keeping me awake for a long time…all people, including me, should think of a way to enable the clean symbols to reach into becoming decision-makers in our lives; in school, in the bank, in organizations, in mosques, in churches, in the political Parties, in private companies, in state sectors, and in everything that touches people's lives and their future, and also-in governments!
This globe is housing us all; the destruction that befalls it befalls us all, even if we do not feel it at the moment, but it shall creep little by little into our personal lives and our homes, and it will hurt us…
The war against Iraq was a fire that burned everything- as we used to say :the green and the dry, in Iraq… then it started sneaking into neighboring countries, then to other world countries; not necessarily in the form of violence and explosions, but the deteriorating economy, the rising costs of living, poverty, and the shortages in employment prospects, all these are side effects of wars, which spread to hit the close and the far-off ones, touching their lives and their pockets; those selfish ignorant fools from the nations of Europe and America; the financial crisis will touch their pockets, and one day they will move in anger to ask their governments what have they done to them, to ask the corrupt decision makers what have they done to them, but then it would be too late, for then the devastation and ruin might have reached a non-controllable point…
And as verse in the Holy Quran says: "…and here we turn the days among people…", meaning- we are all prone to face nice days and cruel days, no one is guaranteed to have luxury forever, but the wise man is that who comprehends, be prepared, and works, he is the one who rushes to help those in need, to lift injustice from the oppressed, so that things wouldn't turn against him one day, and what befell them would befall him, because of his selfishness and ignorance…
I am sorry to sound like a speaker in a public park, giving a boring speech……… but working with people who used to live in safe towns and villages, in safe houses with whole families, who used to have an income and a stable life, and now have lost everything… life became worthless in my eyes, except to work for a noble cause, to save the likes of those people…and there are a lot more like them on earth, but only according to the comprehension of each of us; perhaps he would see them and feel their existence, and maybe he wouldn't, even though they may be beside him- if his vision was blind, I mean- if his heart was inattentive, distracted from what is going on in the world, caring about nothing; what is the difference between this creature and an insect or a fly? All a fly cares about, after all, is buzzing over the trash, in the hope of getting something to cheer-up her day…..
Yes, by God, there are so many people among us who are very much like the fly that buzzes all her life and hover around the trash…
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Yesterday was the anniversary of the Palestine Catastrophe…in 1948, when peaceful Palestinian civilians were killed and driven from their villages and towns into neighboring countries, where they lived as refugees for 60 years, dreaming about returning to their homeland, their houses and lands… those who remained inside lived through a saga of resistance against the Israeli occupation of their land. This story went through many historical stages, and each time it was aborted, and still is; killing, destruction, ruin, hunger, poverty, denial, and an endless injustice….. The civilians there are subjected to hunger, poverty, and negligence in a mass punishment so resistance would end among them. And when Hammas won the elections in Gaza a year or two ago, won thought the pole box; something holy to the people in the west, the western governments refused the acknowledge these results; they besieged Hammas and refused to give them the financial aid to pay employees' wages, people remained under an economical siege and in hunger so they would give up their support of Hammas, while these countries supported the Mahmood Abbas line and made him stronger, even though the average people in Palestine hate him, because he is known to be corrupt and his lack of integrity and patriotism…. And the Palestinian powers in the government entered into a sad state of internal conflict… to some it seems a conflict about power, but perhaps it is a struggle between right and wrong; between a faction who want to represent their people in a just way, who defend their national interests, and another faction; opportunists hypocrites who care for nothing but to enlarge the size of their bank accounts and sit on the power chairs for the longest possible time.…
Also, the same story is going on in Lebanon, between Al-Hareeri line; the owner of $12 billion dollars, and the Hezbullah line who want to be the people's representatives, to defend their rights and decrease the corruption in the country…
And the same sample is repeated in Iraq under the occupation, with the present government a weak deformed one, protected by the occupation, defended by Bush, and used to kill all the spirit of resistance among the Iraqis (Sunnies or Shia'ats), the important thing is that the atmosphere of Iraq should be clear for America and it’s investing companies, along with their accomplices to plunder the country's wealth, and that's what's been happening daily since 2003.
And by the way; Iraq is supposed to be exporting some 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, how much are the companies buying it for? $50 a barrel? $60 a barrel? Well, we don't care how much they're selling it for, but we are assuming how much is the plundered income of Iraq, out of its national oil wealth? And why isn't Iraq reconstructed, since 2003? Because it seems the program is to clean Iraq of all resistance against the occupation, then we might reconstruct it as we will…
The same idea in Palestine since 60 years; when we clean up the resistance against Israel, we reconstruct as we will, and the same story in Lebanon; when the resistance against Israel is cleaned up, we will reconstruct the country………
Well then, what about the people who live there? What about human rights, democracy, and all the empty talk they gave us a headache with?
Well, these are things used according to the temperament; when Israel and America kill innocent Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iraqi civilians, these stories shouldn't appear in world TVs and newspapers, but when an Israeli civilian or an American soldier are killed, the world would rise and not sit back… those are criminal Arabs and Palestinians, killers, and blood shedding monsters, and this is Israel; the poor innocent, the greatest democracy in the Middle East ( as Bush described it in his speech yesterday…). This great democracy that looted a land that isn't hers, kicked the original land owners out of their country, denied their rights, took over their houses and farms, killed the rest of them, and bombed and killed their neighbors, all under the pretext of self defense?
Is there is a one eyed, or blind, or a retarded carrier of news who controls the western media, deforming the true story… or are the people there blind, and enjoy that blindness? Or perhaps our absence from the international field enabled Israel to take over people's minds and emotions, forge stories, and get an on going sympathy for 60 years?
Even though I met a minority of western people, human rights activists, who knew the truth of what is happening in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, but they are marginalized and no one listens to them in their countries….
And when the love of injustice prevails, when that becomes accepted and favored in people's hearts, they should wait for dire consequences from God; the Lord of heaven and earth… it doesn't matter whether they believe in Him or not, that's their problem…The important thing is- that He sees and hears, His is the true judgment, leaving no small matter or big out of count….
And that who spent his life ignorant, with a blind insight, not blind eyes, shall be sorry in the end, for not putting forward any justice, or pushing back an injustice…
We ask God that we shall not be among these people, but among those who install justice and peace on this earth….
Peace be upon you…..
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