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
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/).
posted by jpowersvvaf | 11:39 AM
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