“How old are you?”
“Twelve,” he answered.
I introduce myself, saying that I am with a church delegation
visiting from different countries, we are here to learn about
what is happening and how can we help the people after the war.
He was astonished and said, “but the war is still on, every
day we hear explosions and shouting and bombardment.”
“Yes I am hearing this too since we arrived here, but it
is for a while then it will be over.”
He said "Inshallah Kher we hope and pray to God it will
be so.”
I said to Ammar, which in Arabic means a builder, “I heard
that school was supposed to be open 2 days ago so did you go to
school?”
“The Americans announced that school will be open,”
he answered, “and asked teachers to go to school, so some
of us went. But there were very few students and two teachers.
Many did not come, especially those who live far from school since
no public transportation is available, and over and above our
school was occupied by a group of militant people who said to
us that there would be no school and to go home.”
I knew what Ammar was talking about. We have heard recently that
about 90 political parties were formed in the three weeks after
the collapse of Baghdad, and these parties needed office space
so they took over the schools.
“So, Ammar, what did you do?”
“About 15 of us went back home, “ he said, “and
we are waiting for the school to be emptied soon, as we were told
by the Americans. Meanwhile I am trying to find a job so I can
help my father with some income. You see, I have two sisters younger
then me and a brother older then me. We need to help our father
because he does not make enough for the family. My father used
to work for the city, and now no one is paying his salary.”
I asked Ammar what he did during the war. He said, “You
keep talking as if the battles are over. We pray to God that it
be so, but we don’t feel it is over yet.”
“I mean what did you do during the big battles?”
“You mean when the Americans were bombarding Baghdad? It
was very bad. We all were scared to death and all our neighbor
were so afraid that we hid in the entrance of the building. My
two younger sisters were more afraid then me because they were
little and did not realize what was happening. It was OK during
the day for a few hours, then at night the Americans’ big
fighting planes would start going over the city and shelling everywhere.
This was when everybody was scared and tried to find shelter and
in many case there was none.”
Ammar was trying to show me that he was OK, but I could feel
his fear and the effect of those moments on him. It was really
getting dark and told him he should go home.
“Yes I should,” he said, “my mother will be
worried, but before I leave I want to say that we are grateful
to God because no one in my family was hurt. My neighbor thought
this neighborhood was not safe and still isn’t safe, but
God is merciful and did protect us. I know some people in another
neighborhood who were injured and killed and some children who
lost their parents. We pray to God to continue to be our protector
and have mercy on us. We hope the coming of the Americans will
be for our welfare, and that they can make peace for us here.”
I asked Ammar if we could have our picture taken together and
he agreed if I gave him a copy. As Ammar was leaving, I said,
“You do know the meaning of your name, right?”
“Of course I do—a builder.”
I said, “I will also pray with you for God to give you
peace and to help in building peace as you grow up in your city.”
He smiled and said, “Inshallah.” God willing.
I was really impressed by the public awareness and general knowledge
of this 12-year-old boy. This is the story of Ammar, one of hundreds
of thousands of children in Iraq. |
