Death or Degree · by Jon Paul

Death? or Degree? This is the constant struggle and decision that students in Baghdad have to face each day they step out their door and on route to attain an education and eventually a degree from the University of Baghdad.

It has been many years now and we still continue to observe the media coverage of Iraq and its continually increasing struggle. As citizens we are only able to witness the censored filtration our media permits us to view. The constant destruction witnessed through the news in Iraq is minimal compared to the amount of attacks, bombings, and wreckage that actually take place. All we continue to hear is the proposed agenda of gradually removing U.S. Troops from a country completely turned upside down from the initial invasion, that in the first place, they had no right to seize. Even though Iraq was governed by a dictator, it was still a country with a legitimate organized structure and arrangement. Iraq at one point in time was considered the country of opportunity and education in the Middle East. But if a country such as Iraq does not have the freedom or opportunity to grow culturally, socially, and economically it will be unable to provide for any of its inhabitants in the future.

A major area that guarantees growth on various levels in any country is education. While most students are complaining that tuition fees are soaring or deadlines are too strict, they may want to stop and think how lucky their postition is in comparison. Imagine that in order to earn a degree your days would be spent in constant fear every time you step outside or sit in a classroom. By simply having the knowledge that at any given moment you could be shot at or blown up while enroute to a 10:15 class can be extremely stressful and can unhinge the most sane and sturdy of individuals. Professors and students in Iraq fear for their lives everyday, a high price to pay for an education especially when carrying what little hope is left for a future that appears to have none.

Awareness of the situation is an issue we should further promote. I wanted first hand experience of the situation so I sought out students and faculty attending an institution of higher education within the core of the chaos. This was not a simple task considering there is not much access to the internet or communication anywhere outside the country’s former richest economic city. As well as the instilled fear to tell their stories or even to communicate with North America or Westerners.

My contacts eventually led me to a Biology Professor from the University of Baghdad who is on leave in Ontario. Dr. Naba Hamid (Al-Barrak) was kind enough to sit down with us and share some of her knowledge and experiences. Dr. Hamid was born and raised in Baghdad, she feels safe in Canada but must travel back to Baghdad because it is home, and no matter how bad things get she feels Iraq is where she belongs. The Doctor believes she has an obligation to promote awareness about the difficulties facing the people of Iraq to western society; all the while she risks her own life educating her students. Dr. Hamid is truly a Professor that cares.

Education, which is one of the most important and influential facets to ensure a country’s future, is dissipating with each passing day. An education that has almost lost everything it stands for is amongst the wounded of war’s wearing presence. Having to go to school and and worrying about being shot or blown up at any given minute can only deter students from setting out in search of any academic lifestyle. Choosing the life of a student in Iraq means having to fear for your life, and all the while wondering if you will pass your upcoming exam gives a whole new meaning to a stressful academic year.

“What normally takes 15 minutes,” says Dr Hamid turns into a 2 hour journey traveling to school trying to map out the safest way possible through various road blocks with the least resistance. A normal day of school could last from 8 am until 5 pm, but students have to leave at 2 o’clock in the afternoon in order to arrive home safely by 4 o’clock right before the streets become empty and unpredictably dangerous. Wanting to become educated is almost like gambling with your life. Students and faculty are being shot only because they belong to an institution that provides an opportunity to learn more about the world. “You are in constant fear every minute” says Dr. Hamid, and left wondering if the cab you just jumped into decides to kidnap you instead of driving you to the University. Once word spreads that a student can afford to go to school, chances of abduction for ransom increase. Unlike the past, many people don’t even drive anymore. Dr. Hamid’s vehicle has been stored away in her garage the past few years for fear she might get gunned down when seen driving. “It’s not like before,” she says. “Women don’t have the freedom we once had for generations.”

Education, as valuable as we all know it to be, is being oppressed by the various terrorist groups in Baghdad. The neighbourhood where Dr. Hamid’s school is located is protected by a fairly modest cement wall while closely watched and controlled by a terrorist organization. At any moment the classrooms could become a war zone. “Education is really the only static thing that gives them hope” mentions Hamid. Going to school and learning is the students’ only escape from the constant violence.

Attempting to teach students biology, without any science equipment except for 5 microscopes, no electricity and very few slide images while keeping them motivated is a difficult task for the Professor. Especially in a school that has been an unfortunate recipient to multiple bombings with an end result of well over 60 causalities. To instill hope, motivation, and encouragement concerning an unknown future is nearly impossible using only words, according to Dr. Hamid. “Words are not enough!” she insists. “You have to show the students visual hope and show them something other than violence. But you can’t, I can’t show them anything other than what they see.”

Graduation is a delayed process for most students and is often put off as long as possible. Once a student graduates there is little hope that he/she will acquire a job within or outside of Iraq. Most are forced to fight on the front by various terrorist organizations. Whether a graduate of Engineering, Biology or Political Science, their degrees are no longer recognized in the eyes of war. Those who were fortunate enough to attend university are now placed alongside teenagers who dropped out of high school with very little education. “They have no passion for life.” Dr. Hamid states. “No weapon can make them afraid or stop the violence, not even nuclear.” No community is safe from this harm. “This war should awake the rest of the world” says the doctor. “Do you know how close Iraq is to our (North America) continent?” she asks. “Only 12,000 miles!” While the rest of world is standing by, some paying attention, and others turning a blind eye, war has many ways of affecting the rest of the world. Whether it be politically, economically, socially, or even physically, awareness of these situations must be brought to attention on a global level without the censorship of the media.

Four generations of males were becoming wiped out due to successive wars and lately the USA occupation. So many single women and widows are the result of every man having to join the fight since presently, there is no other way. How do you even begin to rebuild when there are so many educated people being killed off? Women do not have a chance to receive the opportunity to go out and acquire the skills for different careers or help generate the workforce.

Education used to be the forte among Iraqis in comparison to surrounding countries. “Iraq was a pioneer among the Middle East” mentions Hamid. “Students from United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syeria, Lebanon, North Africa, and Palestine would come to study in Iraq.” After the first Gulf War in 1991, educated people began to leave for safer places like Europe and North America. The majority of the people that left were the educated middle-class, which Iraq was once populated with.

The city is no longer a city; it is a pile of rubble with very few buildings left in their original form. “The people’s history was destroyed” says Dr. Hamid when the National Museum, and numerous other museums all over the country were ransacked and looted by individuals and international mafias. The museum can no longer depict a history that perhaps Iraq would once again like to establish. One building that was left untouched and is continually being guarded is the Ministry of Oil which Dr. Hamid can see everyday when she steps outside her house located directly down the street from the grease governing shrine. “We live in a country that produces oil for the rest of the world but we can’t have any ourselves,” mentions Hamid. “We have no petrol [gasoline],” (the liquid mixture used to the increase octane ratings in fuel making it safer for our vehicle’s engine). This in turn creates a problem to power generators that some homes are fortunate enough to own or makes it very harmful to the few cars still able to run. Hospitals are short of equipments, drugs, and lack disposable syringes and oxygen. The streets are not clean, the water is filthy, and there is garbage everywhere, according to Dr. Hamid.

The students as well as most people in Iraq are isolated, they do not know life is moving outside of this country. There are no televisions, radios, frequencies of any sort, and the limited internet is closely watched. Cost for living is increasing, inflation is very high, and infrastructure is almost nonexistent. “It is though we do not have a country anymore, or if we do, it is something we no longer recognize,” says Hamid.
Every action has a reaction, and in Iraq’s case, an unimaginable reaction. The casualties from this ongoing war is affecting more than the present well being. With the lack of education and the decreasing enrollment in school the future of the country is at stake because as mentioned before, education ensures growth of any community and without it the process to rebuilding will be a long arduous battle with little hope in sight.

Dr. Naba Hamid asks for your help:
Youth of Canada what can you do to support your peers in Iraq? Can you help them to restore their schools? Can you support their morals and their life? Help them with information, knowledge, books, and equipments. Can you support and revive education in Iraq?

You can contact Dr. Hamid at
nh4woman@yahoo.com