Category: Iraq

From Bully to Friend: A Middle School Story

10/5/2020

2020 n15
When our culture instructor surveyed her class about possible topics to discuss, two mothers—one from Iraq and one from Thailand—asked about bullying. The Iraqi mother said that before they fled Iraq, they had many enemies, but they thought things would be different here in America. Now her middle-schooler dreaded going to school because some kids bullied him constantly because of his race. Both mothers were discouraged and hurting for their children.

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Green Cards and Blue Passports

6/30/2020

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2020 n12
With their lives threatened back at home, Quincy, Katie,* and their two boys arrived in Knoxville six years ago carrying passports from Iraq. Quincy’s English was fairly good, but Katie didn’t speak any English until she began attending English classes near her home. They didn’t travel much with just US Green Cards.

In 2019, after the required five years of residency, Quincy took and passed the US citizenship test at his first opportunity.

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A Man With No Country

6/16/2020

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2020 n11
Tim* and his family walked away from their home when he was eleven. The Sunni and Shia sects of Islam were killing each other, and Christian families like Tim’s were caught in the middle. His father sold the factory he owned, they packed their most precious belongings in a few suitcases, they locked up their house, and they moved to the northern part of Iraq. Tim’s mother knew they would never go back.

They settled in a Kurdish city in northern Iraq—a place very different from their home city. Tim was the only Christian in his high school classes of forty students or more. Other kids would ask him and his sister, “Why don’t you convert to Islam?” After seven years, the pressure became too much.

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Safaa Can Always Smile

9/3/2019

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2019 n17
Afternoons in southern Iraq are hot. Working in his university’s research gardens, Safaa Alshuwaili was sweating when he noticed an interesting ant and followed it back to its hive. That ant belonged to the first of five ant species he found, classified, and named while studying there. In 2010, Safaa graduated with his master’s degree in environmental science.

He took a position at another university, where he taught insect taxonomy and classification for seven years. Then he received a scholarship to continue his studies in the United States. Safaa left his parents and five siblings in Iraq, landing in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Christmas time in 2013. He spoke almost no English.

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Crafts & Conversation

8/19/2019

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2019 n15
Twelve heads bent over the table, seven of them covered by scarves. Sunlight poured over the space from a wall of windows. Six cultures were represented. On this day, they were making potholders: tracing a mitten shape onto colorful fabrics and liners, then hand-sewing the pieces together with strong, white thread.

Several conversations were always going, participants shifting between them without missing a word. One lady stacked her cut pieces on the table, saying, “I can sew at home by myself. I came here to talk.”

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Replacing Ronaldo's Hope

12/3/2018

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2018 n03
A bomb robbed young Ronaldo of much of his hearing. Then an international move robbed him and his family of their home and everything familiar. It’s no surprise Ronaldo struggled in school after they reached Knoxville. He couldn’t hear well, and what he heard wasn’t always understandable. He couldn’t sit still in class. He couldn’t finish his homework, and he resisted discipline at school. Ronaldo was frustrated. His parents were desperate.

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From Bully to Friend: A Middle School Story

Green Cards and Blue Passports

A Man With No Country

Safaa Can Always Smile

Crafts & Conversation

Replacing Ronaldo's Hope

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