Return to Baghdad Update 7

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update 7
Thursday, 11 August 2005

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – These past mornings I have awoke with the aches and pains from a tumble taken on Tuesday afternoon, smashing by back over the crossbars of a tent. As I laid on the mud covered floor of the Liberty Pool gym I thought of how embarrassing it would be to explain to my friends at home that I was paralyzed in Iraq, not from a car bomb, IED, or ambush, but from taking a spill at the gym! Luckily there was someone else with me in the locker room that pulled me off the floor and back into a normal position.

It made it uncomfortable to climb in and out of the truck on Wednesday as I made my way around to different meetings I had set up. Throughout this entire trip, the one meeting that I most desired was the hardest to coordinate because it involved the military. Thanks to the help of the high ranking contact that really supports the Orphans and Street Kids Project I was able to work into the proper channels, but setting up a meeting between military personnel stationed in different areas was extremely challenging. Security, weather, flights, and a variety of other elements have postponed or cancelled multiple attempts. Finally the G5 and I were able to sit down in the lobby of the new American Embassy.

Low and behold, the new American Embassy is Sadaam’s main palace. This is the same palace where I visited Steve and his crew when we were distributing shoes that had been sent to me while I was in Iraq by OKI in Buffalo. When I returned on this trip I found a fortified compound that is a critical part of Iraq’s success, but also a place where many good intentioned humanitarians get locked into bureaucracy while attempting to change Iraq, even though they have never really experienced Iraq.

Luckily for me I was able to work with a fantastic LTC who did understand Iraq and understood the fantastic need for my project. Through the meeting we found a lot of common ground, but more importantly he sent me in directions I have not yet been able to reach. Between that meeting and a meeting with Jim Russell of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO), I feel like I have really been able to get my foot in the door of the Embassy.

IRMO sets the stage for the future of Iraq, working closely with ministries and giving them advice as they find their way to rebuilding this society. Jim Russell is a life time humanitarian, and has been truly helpful to my efforts. Through IRMO I will be able to work closely with both the Iraqi Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) and the US government. These are critical pieces for the programs success.

Throughout my meetings this here at the Embassy a common tone rang clear...this project is extremely needed. There is very little support being given to these children as they fall further and further down the list of ever growing priorities.

Thursday morning I awoke early as possible to assure my flight on a Blackhawk to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP.) During the flight I was able to meet with a lovely USAID contractor, Federica Sawyer, who was heading to the same location that I was, and flying out. She convinced me to come to the terminal with her and attempt to fly out early. Because of the sandstorm, and the upcoming constitutional deadline, the wait at the airport was 3 DAYS!

BIAP differs from any other airport I have ever been to. Security consisted of dogs sniffing our bags before entering the terminal and then sitting in a snake like line of fatigued passengers waiting for someone to call their flight out. There is no ticket desk set up, no digital board announcing flights, and most importantly no STARBUCKS!

In line I met an NBC producer, Paul Nissan, who knew about my project from the Nightly News piece. Between his Arabic and Frederica’s contacts we were able to work our way around the line and into the back offices of Iraqi Airways. Here $300 (the price of the ticket) exchanged hands and we were booked on a flight out of BIAP. Nearly 11 hours later we were airborne for Amman.

On our descent into the Amman airport I began to get a bit nervous as the plane shook and rattled. At this point I realized that no one in the world knew I was on this flight and that the only record of me being here was a paper ticket that was in my pocket...if we don’t make it no one will ever know what happened to me. My mother would KILL ME!

Obviously we made it, or I wouldn’t be writing to you! During my time in Amman I was able to experience a bit of the culture as well as have a fantastic meeting with UNICEF before heading back to the states. All in all this was an extremely successful trip to Baghdad, a return trip will soon be in the works.

Please stay tuned for future updates, as the Orphans and Street Kids Project works to help the most innocent victims of this war. Thanks for your support.

For more information about the Orphans and Street Kids Project visit the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) homepage, http://vvaf.org/. The project is a partnership between the VVAF and Opportunities for Kids International, INC, (http://www.okiinc.org/).

Return to Baghdad Update 6

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update
Tuesday, 9 August 2005

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – When the alarm clock went off Monday morning and I looked out the window to prepare for the day I rechecked the time to make sure it wasn’t still night. The day had a strange orange glow and walking out into the courtyard I realized why. One of the biggest sandstorms to come through Baghdad was hanging in the air. I had experienced sandstorms in Kuwait which came like hurricanes and lasted for 20 minutes, and there were a few at the Palace, but nothing like this.

Driving to the Convention Center to meet with my Iraq friends I felt like I was in one of our famous Buffalo Blizzards. I had to keep an eye on the side of the road, drive with my blinkers on, and hope everyone else was doing the same. When I finally made it to the Convention Center I waited a while as my friends struggled to get through the city infested with sand. The meeting was well worth the wait!

My friends had been out meeting with orphanage directors, interviewing the kids, and finding street kids working on the side of the road. When meeting the kids at one of the Adhamiya orphanages (this is the section of Baghdad Gunner Palace was in) they met my friend Mustafa! This boy has been publicized in newspapers and shown on national television as he is the boy on my shoulders in this picture.

The filmmaker working with me spent a lot of time with Mustafa. He showed him the picture of the two of us and he remembered! Mustafa is both deaf and mute, but he is a happy little boy! He has been moved to another orphanage, one that we were told had 30 kids, but actually had 59!

The information that my friends gathered was phenomenal and really showed the problems here in Baghdad. These are locals who want to do the best thing to help the kids here. As great as this information was, it was horrible to see children on the side of the road selling cigarettes, chopping ice cubes, and selling loaves of bread. They set up stand on the edge of the highways...HIGHWAYS! These kids talked about working 13 or 14 hours a day. Kids who are 9 or 10 years old just trying to make enough money to get by in life. These are the kids the project will help the most.

Even in the tremendous sandstorm, work must continue. The afternoon had meetings with USAID and others. Minus the fact that I tumbled off the bench in the gym cracking my spine and then LOCKING MY KEYS in the truck, it was an interesting day.

Tuesday I had chi with one of Joe Donahue’s Iraqi friends and interviewed him for a possible logistical position within the project. With the sand storm, my meeting with the Army has been delayed till Wednesday. It will be important to introduce them to what I am doing and to gain there support in the project. The sand let up a bit, but flights are still cancelled and I wonder what delays lye ahead.

One of the things I learned from this trip is that the assessment needs to initiated as quickly as possible. Finding the funding to get my Iraqi friends back on the streets finding out how many of these kids are really in trouble. This is a number no one knows, but we do know it is in the thousands! Every Iraqi I talk to knows exactly the children I am talking about. These are the kids we will give hope to, the future of this country.

For more information about the Orphans and Street Kids Project visit the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) homepage, http://vvaf.org/. The project is a partnership between the VVAF and Opportunities for Kids International, INC, (http://www.okiinc.org/).

Return to Baghdad Update 5

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update 5
Sunday, 7 August 2005

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – One of the most uplifting parts of doing this project is getting children in America involved and showing them that they are blessed to be part of a wonderful society. It also shows them what an amazing difference they can make in others lives. During our July Fundraising BBQ in Clarence I was approached my friend Charles son gave me a baseball bat and glove saying, “Could you please give these to an Iraqi child?” It was a wonderful act of kindness as his father was leaving the next day to return to military service.

Since I spent the majority of my weekend writing and reworking proposals, I needed to do something to remind me that all this work is for a reason. I took the baseball bat, glove, and a baseball up to the corner supermarket where I buy some of my goods. Here is an Iraqi boy who is mentally disabled and works hard loading goods into customers’ cars. He has a difficult life, especially for a child.

When I gave him the baseball equipment he at first could not understand it was a gift. One of the adults at the store spoke broken English and helped me explain it to him. Finally he understood and with a little bit of instruction began to pick up on the basics of throwing, catching, and hitting. Baseball is not a common sport in this culture, but he began to understand. I decided to give the extra ball to his little sister who seemed left out.

The joy that this simple act brought to this child is the reason why we do the things we do. Efforts like the gift that was carried across the oceans from one young boy in America to one young boy in Iraq can lay the seeds to a better future here. I will be sure to get Charles son a copy of this picture when I get home so he can see the wonderful results of his kidness.

For more information about the Orphans and Street Kids Project visit the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) homepage, http://vvaf.org/. The project is a partnership between the VVAF and Opportunities for Kids International, INC, (http://www.okiinc.org/).

Return to Baghdad Update 4

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update 4
Friday, 5 August 2005

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - With Steve and Bushra on my side, doors begin to open and momentum begins to build for the project. Thursday morning I met with the Chief of Party for the Employment and Vocational Training Project in Iraq, a USAID sponsored project. The Career and Life Skills Center's vocational school was the main point of discussion during this meeting.

The Employment and Vocational Training Project set up numerous vocational schools here in Baghdad, but they are all focused on adults. There is nothing set for the teenagers who will be heading into these fields. We discussed the keys to adapting the curriculum to fit not only the Arabic language, but the different ways things are done here in Iraq. Carpenters, electricians, mechanics, welders, and other jobs are done differently here than they are in the states. Girls’ careers were also discussed with classes in cosmetology, sewing, and food service. One concept we thought of was to use these food service students to run a soup kitchen for other street kids. People in the states who think of women’s equal rights may be frustrated by this idea, but it must be remembered that these are street kids who must be trained in jobs they get here in Iraq.

This meeting also brought money to the table for the first time. They offered to help me put together a computer training session and possibly provide computers to the orphanages. If this project is to happen, it has to happen quickly. The budget for the Employment and Vocational Training Project ends 30 September. Through the proper proposals, this could make a great impact on the orphanages in a short time.

After this productive session, I headed to the Al Rasheed Hotel, pictured above, to meet Steve for lunch before heading to meet people at the Convention Center. Sitting at the table next to me at lunch was a social scientist, a British bloke, who worked under the CPA and was currently here still helping to improve Iraq. Coincidently I met him a week before leaving for Baghdad at a conference on Capital Hill where he briefed, along with others from his corporation, about lessons learned in Iraq and other nation building efforts. Remembering me, and the project, he promised to email me with some British connections to assist me in what I am trying to accomplish.

Following a meal of hummus, Iraqi Kebabs, and Turkish coffee we headed to the Convention Center. The Center is the only location where local Iraqis, without International Zone Identification, can visit and it still be secured. Here we met with a local national who is going to assist me in fact finding here in Baghdad. This man, who for safety reasons will remain anonymous, is going to work with a Iraqi filmmaker I hired to go into Baghdad and interview orphanage directors, caretakers, orphans, and most importantly street kids. Just the mention of street kids to local Iraqis and they can all name a group of them they know who are living in abandoned basements, under bridges, or in parks in the city. The problem is evidently immense.

Thursday evening, Bushra introduced me to a friend of hers who started a program very similar to mine in the North of Iraq during the sanctions, and now she is the Minister of Human Rights. The Minister, Dr. Narmine Othman, was very interested in what I am doing and provided me with some wonderful ideas of how to make the project work in this culture. By adding aspects such as foster families, apprenticeships, and networking the Career Center into the orphanages, it may reduce the stereo types assigned by the Muslim culture to orphans. Normally these children are tagged like the Untouchables of India, but by making it appear that they are children in training it reduces that affect. The Minister also promised to introduce me to the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs who this project would have to run through.

I came home Thursday evening with the feeling that we are really making progress toward helping Iraqs most needy children, and that feeling was solidified when I found an email in my Inbox from an extremely powerful military contact. Thanks to one of my biggest supporters, Mike Tucker, I was able to send feelers to a few great military contacts, and this led to meetings next week. The importance of military involvement in this is key for me because the fact I am an Iraq Veteran. This provides them a great story of a veteran returning to Iraq and it will hopefully provide the funding and military backing that I drastically need to make this project work.

Friday morning I again met with my Iraqi friend and provided him with a list of tasks I hope he can fulfill. These objectives will provide me with an extremely important human face that I can bring home with me, a face of the Iraqi children who suffer here daily. Through the implementation of this plan, my Iraqi friends will not only be interviewing these kids and capturing their lives, but providing them a meal, and a promise of a hope that is coming. These children will be some of the first that we will help.

Other than this meeting, Fridays in the IZ are relatively slow as it is a holiday for the Embassies, so I spent the day writing. I also enjoyed a few Coronas in the evening, something I couldn’t do when fighting here as a soldier. A few beers are pretty tasty when you are sitting in the oven like temperatures here in Baghdad!

For more information about the Orphans and Street Kids Project visit the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) homepage, http://vvaf.org/. The project is a partnership between the VVAF and Opportunities for Kids International, INC, (http://www.okiinc.org/).

CPT Powers at a Baghdad Orphanage 

Return to Baghdad Update 3

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update 3
Wednesday, 3 August 2005

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Tuesday morning opened my eyes to the difficulties of working in Baghdad. Bushra Jamil, an Iraqi I have known through Steve since my first trip here, was going to meet me at my compound at 0830 so we could discuss a plan of action for the week. She is in town from Amman where she is currently working, but in Baghdad she works very closely with the Voices of Women’s Radio. Throughout the morning we kept in touch by our Iraqnet (the Iraq cell phone carrier) phones as she made her way through the ever growing road blocks coming into the International (Green) Zone.

Bushra spends most of her time in the “Red Zone,” which is the area of Baghdad that is not heavily fortified by the military. An incident this morning made it so security was relatively high while sporadic checkpoints were created to bring order. Finally she was able to arrive at almost 1130. These are some of the problems that we face working in a war zone.

After a much too quick brief to Bushra, I hurried across the IZ to the USAID compound where I had a lunch meeting set up. This was my first time driving across an area that I drove through two or three times a week on convoys from Gunner Palace to BIAP. Here were spooky reminders of my year in combat. Passing the Combat Support Hospital (CASH) I was reminded of a visit to an Iraqi friend who had been gunned down for helping us find terrorists in our sector or an uncomfortable hernia check I had received from one of the CASH’s gynecologist when I thought I had injured myself. I still don’t know what she was looking for, but I walked out of that check up with a limp for a week!

I also drove past the skeleton of what was once the Green Zone Café. This was a place where we stopped occasionally to smoke hookahs. This is also the restaurant where my soldiers and I convoyed to at midnight Super Bowl night (remember that we are 8 hours ahead here) to buy pizza for the Battalion’s Super Bowl Party. Now, all that remains is a burnt out building that was destroyed a few months after our departure by a suicide bomber.

Finally I was able to find the USAID compound amongst the innumerable concrete barriers that now run road side along the Green Zone making it seem like your driving in a tunnel. The folks I met with at USAID are an outstanding group of humanitarians. USAID manages many of the humanitarian programs funded by the US here in Iraq, and across the world. Through a friend I was able to contact one of the USAID teams here and introduced them to the project. Since this team thought the program had excellent merit, they set me up with multiple contacts to help me get it off the ground.

On the way back to the compound I stopped and checked out the infamous Cross Sabers, pictured above. This was our rallying point upon entering Iraq in May 2003 when Smoke Powell, my Platoon Sergeant, and I were being to towed through Baghdad. Our Humvee died during the convoy from Kuwait to Baghdad and may have been left in one of the cities major intersections if Smoke hadn’t packed a few tow straps. The Cross Sabers were built buys Saddam to honor and march his armies. Each hand is a replica of the former dictator’s hand and the helmets you see piled on the side are Iranian helmets from the Iran Iraq War. I later learned that Saddam wanted to use actual skulls, but the architect refused. This was an interesting place to do my video diary and I received a tour up into the hand by a local Iraqi Policeman.

I was surprised Wednesday by a phone call from Steve who was coming to the International Zone for work and wanted to meet up. Steve, a native Iraqi, is always going full speed trying to make this country a better place. His dedication is inspiring and I learn so much from listening to his updates of what is happening in the country. Steve also provides me a phenomenal historical and cultural perspective to the war.

Bushra again came to the compound and she, Steve, and I were able to discuss the project and its implementation. Both Bushra and Steve have personal relationships with many of the Ministries that now run Iraq. Between those relationships and the contacts I have received from USAID I began to see my time here unfold. Meetings, appointments, and tea times were set up so that the project can find the right places to spread its roots. This trip is turning into the catalyst which will allow the Orphans and Street Kids Project to become a reality.

For more information about the Orphans and Street Kids Project visit the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) homepage, http://vvaf.org/. The project is a partnership between the VVAF and Opportunities for Kids International, INC, (http://www.okiinc.org/).

Return to Baghdad Update 2

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update 2
Monday, 1 August 2005

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Have you ever used an outhouse that has been cooking in the desert sun in the 120 degree heat? This is one of the wonders of being in Iraq that I forgot about until I returned yesterday morning on a Royal Jordanian flight from Amman. A driver picked me up at 4:30 AM so I could make my early morning flight into the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). The only flight leaving Amman that early was the BIAP flight, and the crowd was very distinctive with their shorter than average haircuts, khaki cargo pants, and survival packs as luggage.

As we approached Baghdad, the flight remained relatively high, but once we were over the landing strip our pilot dove into a corkscrew that reminded me of many a Six Flags ride. This unique landing allowed us to make it safely to the ground, but also sent a message that we were returning to a War Zone. We were then picked up on busses from the landing strip and ferried into the airport to deal with customs.

Visas are needed for Iraq, and without a contract can cost up to $80. Luckily I was able to use my VVAF contract to get in. Once I gathered my luggage, the real challenge began. Most contractors or federal employees have a distinct crews they are to work with so many of them are picked up upon their arrival. Mike Tucker had given me the tips for traveling here that allowed me to work through Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a Halliburton organization, to catch a ride to Camp Stryker. This trip opened my eyes to how much Baghdad has changed since I last left.

Bob Hope’s Dining Facility and the Division Headquarters built around it were no longer there, the Division Artillery Headquarters I visited weekly was no longer there, and Camp Stryker, which our sister Battalion built the skeleton of, was now a major operating base on BIAP. Here I was able to manifest myself for a Rhino, the armored bus that takes you from BIAP to the International (Green) Zone, which was to leave in the middle of the night. After catching a meal and meeting with a few State Department guys, I was able to get myself manifested onto a Blackhawk flight earlier in the evening. Four years in the Army and I was never able to fly in a Blackhawk, first day in Iraq as a civilian and I was going for a ride!

This flight shortened my travel greatly and gave me a spectacular view of the city of Baghdad at night. VVAF coordinated for me to be picked up at the Landing Zone and I finally arrived to the compound around 2100 hours (military jargon). Welcoming me to the International Zone (IZ) was Kim Brandt, one of VVAF’s representatives on the ground. Also, Steve Jafar, an Iraqi born Buffalonian and founder of Opportunity for Kids International, was able to spend the evening with me as we set up our plan of action for the time I am in Baghdad.

Monday morning I met with the rest of the teams here in the compound I am staying. After briefing them on whom I was and what the project is, there was a much different view of my being there. Before I arrived I was viewed as a 27 year old boy coming to work on an unknown project, and for many of these career military and life time humanitarians, they were unsure how to take it. Once I briefed them on my military experience and the project, I was in a much better position.

As I received my tour of the compound I was now living in, I also received a bit of history of the grounds. We are living in what used to be Saddam and sons motor pool for their magnificent fleet of vehicles. Some of these vehicles, like the destroyed limo pictured here, still remain on the grounds. The compound overlooks the 14th of July Bridge, this date commemorates an important Iraqi holiday, as well as the Tigris River. Ironically enough, my first trip to Baghdad I lived in Uday’s Palace on the Eastern banks of the Tigris, now I am back, living in his motor pool on the Western Bank.

During the evening I was able to contact those folks I know here to prepare upcoming meetings. The pieces of the trip are beginning to fall together. Everyone here who I tell about the project, to include two Army Generals I sat with on the Blackhawk, agree that this is something much needed in the city of Baghdad during this most difficult time.

Return to Baghdad Update 1

Orphans and Street Kids Project
Return to Baghdad Update 1
Saturday, 30 July 2005

Amman, Jordan - After leaving Washington on Wednesday, it took over 24 hours to finally reach my layover destination at the InterContinental Hotel in Amman. Arriving late at night, I was not able to fully grasp the unbelievable size or beauty of the city. Amman, with a population of nearly 2 million, is spread far and wide as it is constructed of buildings that mostly top off at the 7th or 8th story. This heavily residential city is built over many hills that allow for breathtaking views that show building upon building until you reach the horizon.

My first morning, Friday, I was able to catch up on some work that had been left by the wayside as I traveled. Once I completed these duties I caught one of the thousands of yellow taxis that zoom around the city and received a mini-tour as I made my way to the Mecca Mall. I was a bit taken back by the name, and even more taken back by the incredible western feeling this mall, and this city, has. The mall was checkered with western stores like; Banana Republic, United Benetton, Pizza Hut, Cinnabun, and the ever international Kentucky Fried Chicken.

When I finally returned to the hotel to grab my video camera and headed out to record a video diary, I discovered a part of Amman that lies under the beautiful surface. In contrast to the beautiful government homes and ministry buildings I saw while driving around in the taxis, the city I explored on foot was generally rubbish ridden and somewhat poor. Stepping around bags of garbage, eroding apartment buildings, and shady neighborhoods I felt a bit unsafe and moved with a great purpose. There seemed to be a great gap in the society, but perhaps I just have not visited the middle class areas. Because of the time I took exploring and the shadows of the setting sun, I was not able to capture much of what I had wished for and recorded inside.

During the evening I witnessed a much different Amman. While I sat on the hotel terrace café and smoked strawberry tobacco from the hookah pipe, a strong tradition in Middle Eastern countries, I was surrounded by a great variety. The men and women in this café were western dressed with sporadic traditionally dressed women in the head to toe garment. These women blend right into the atmosphere and remind me that I am in the Middle East.

Saturday morning I made contact with UNICEF and taxied to their compound, about 15 minutes from mine. Directions in this city would be nearly impossible without a good knowledge of the layout – Circle 6, behind the Mosque on Mosque Road, next to the former Prince Ali’s house…, good luck Mapquesting that! Unfortunately UNICEF does not work on weekends so I was stuck walking the back streets of Amman again. At least I have located the site for future visits.

This day in Amman was not as constructive as I intended, but it at least gave me time to prepare for what lies ahead. Saturday night I retired early since I had to be up at 3 AM for my flight the next morning.