our mother
moved to Syria to stay with my aunt and her children. I thought at first it was going to
be a holiday. I didnât know we wereleaving forever so I was
able to enjoy being in Syria, away from the danger. Then my father called and said we
should forget about Baghdad, that we would not be going back.
I cried for three days, because it meant I lost the chance to go to
Baghdad College. I wanted to go there so much! It was the only high school in Baghdad
that taught only in the English language. It had the most beautiful campus, the biggest
in Baghdad, and it has a history of creating leaders. I think even the minister of
health for the United Kingdom went there.
Praise God, though, that my fatherâs LIFE office moved from Baghdad
to here in Amman. So he has a job, and can continue his work.
HUTHAIFA â I hope I can continue my studies
somehow, here in Amman.
YEMAN â In Syria I began to compose music.
There is a website called Macjams, where you can meet up with other people creating
music all over the world. If you go on it, you can hear some of my music.
Here is the site: http://www.macjams.com/artist/BirdmanWayne94 .
HUTHAIFA â In Baghdad I played guitar for
the US army. It was one of those nights the soldiers were going from house to house,
searching for weapons. They came to our house at 2:30 in the morning. I was awake,
studying for my Arabic final exam. There were five soldiers at the door. I was friendly
to them, so they were friendly to me inreturn. I let them see that
we had no weapons, and one of them saw my guitar. His name was Smith, and he was
twenty-three, very young. He asked if I would play them a song. He asked in a way that
was kind, like he really wanted to hear some music. I played them something from
Metallica. You can tell that we both like Metallica. Then he picked up my
brotherâs guitar and we jammed together on âFade to Black.â It was a
good moment.
I saw them later, during the day. They asked me to help translate for them
with someone. First they asked to search my bag. I was coming home from swimming, so I
had my towel and swimsuit in a bag. Then they asked me to help translate. I did, but
just for five minutes. Then I got scared that I could be killed for helping them, and I
went home.
YEMAN â I wish we could use music somehow
to stop war. Maybe it sounds silly, but instead of picking up a gun, soldiers should
instead pick up a guitar or a saxophone or a trumpet. They could have battles with
music, to see who could make the best music. That would make the world much, much
better.
HUTHAIFA â To make the world better, I am
planning to be like my father, and find a way to work with an NGO to stop people from
suffering.
YEMAN â I wish American kids could
understand that we have many things in common. Really, we are not different. They
donât need to be afraid of us.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are
not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending
money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the
hopes of its children.
â Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
Glossary
Abu Ghraib â A prison near Baghdad, known for torture and
executions of political prisoners under Saddam. Photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqi
prisoners at Abu Ghraib appeared in newspapers around the world. It has been renamed the
Baghdad Central Detention Center.
Arabic â A language and a reference to a group of people
with roots in the Middle Eastern areas of Iraq, Saudia Arabia and others.
Baâath â A political party that stood for Arab
unity, socialism and the separation of religion from government. It was formed in the
1950s in the Middle East.
Bedouin â Nomadic Arabs who live in
moved to Syria to stay with my aunt and her children. I thought at first it was going to
be a holiday. I didnât know we wereleaving forever so I was
able to enjoy being in Syria, away from the danger. Then my father called and said we
should forget about Baghdad, that we would not be going back.
I cried for three days, because it meant I lost the chance to go to
Baghdad College. I wanted to go there so much! It was the only high school in Baghdad
that taught only in the English language. It had the most beautiful campus, the biggest
in Baghdad, and it has a history of creating leaders. I think even the minister of
health for the United Kingdom went there.
Praise God, though, that my fatherâs LIFE office moved from Baghdad
to here in Amman. So he has a job, and can continue his work.
HUTHAIFA â I hope I can continue my studies
somehow, here in Amman.
YEMAN â In Syria I began to compose music.
There is a website called Macjams, where you can meet up with other people creating
music all over the world. If you go on it, you can hear some of my music.
Here is the site: http://www.macjams.com/artist/BirdmanWayne94 .
HUTHAIFA â In Baghdad I played guitar for
the US army. It was one of those nights the soldiers were going from house to house,
searching for weapons. They came to our house at 2:30 in the morning. I was awake,
studying for my Arabic final exam. There were five soldiers at the door. I was friendly
to them, so they were friendly to me inreturn. I let them see that
we had no weapons, and one of them saw my guitar. His name was Smith, and he was
twenty-three, very young. He asked if I would play them a song. He asked in a way that
was kind, like he really wanted to hear some music. I played them something from
Metallica. You can tell that we both like Metallica. Then he picked up my
brotherâs guitar and we jammed together on âFade to Black.â It was a
good moment.
I saw them later, during the day. They asked me to help translate for them
with someone. First they asked to search my bag. I was coming home from swimming, so I
had my towel and swimsuit in a bag. Then they asked me to help translate. I did, but
just for five minutes. Then I got scared that I could be killed for helping them, and I
went home.
YEMAN â I wish we could use music somehow
to stop war. Maybe it sounds silly, but instead of picking up a gun, soldiers should
instead pick up a guitar or a saxophone or a trumpet. They could have battles with
music, to see who could make the best music. That would make the world much, much
better.
HUTHAIFA â To make the world better, I am
planning to be like my father, and find a way to work with an NGO to stop people from
suffering.
YEMAN â I wish American kids could
understand that we have many things in common. Really, we are not different. They
donât need to be afraid of us.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are
not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending
money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the
hopes of its children.
â Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
Glossary
Abu Ghraib â A prison near Baghdad, known for torture and
executions of political prisoners under Saddam. Photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqi
prisoners at Abu Ghraib appeared in newspapers around the world. It has been renamed the
Baghdad Central Detention Center.
Arabic â A language and a reference to a group of people
with roots in the Middle Eastern areas of Iraq, Saudia Arabia and others.
Baâath â A political party that stood for Arab
unity, socialism and the separation of religion from government. It was formed in the
1950s in the Middle East.
Bedouin â Nomadic Arabs who live in
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