Earlier this month, the US military “liberated” Al-Rah’ma Orphanage because they thought the children staying there were torture victims from Saddam’s time. By the time the US realized the children were orphans, most had fled to live in the streets. There are more political parties and movements in Iraq today than we can count, but there are more orphans and street children in Baghdad now than even the political parties. And, unlike the parties, these children represent the reality Iraqis have suffered from between our past and our present. Al-Muajaha interviewed several children, many of them teenagers, from different neighborhoods around Baghdad.
Ashraq and Ra’waa are sisters in their early teens who until recently were being cared for at Al-Rah’ma.
Ashraq and Ra’waa are sisters in their early teens who until recently were being cared for at Al-Rah’ma.
Ra’waa is so pale that you might not guess she is a real person. Her ability to speak is as weak as her color. Ashraq is more vocal, and she doesn’t miss life in the orphanage. “I feel free now in my new life on the street,” she said.
Ali Fares Mehdi, a 15 year old, said, “My parents died when I was a child. I gave myself up to the government, and lived in the orphanage for the last 2 years, but I’m scared since Baghdad fell.”
Ali Fares Mehdi, a 15 year old, said, “My parents died when I was a child. I gave myself up to the government, and lived in the orphanage for the last 2 years, but I’m scared since Baghdad fell.”