Along the way I have learned some valuable lessons. Communicating these lessons to others is my primary motivation in writing this document. The reader needs to understand the gist of this to put some of the later biases and philosophies into perspective.

Basically, I hope you, all readers, are able to find some profit in my ramblings.

Thanks.

Ten years ago, a group of merciless people assassinated Iraq, my country in front of my eyes. Those villains committed the most one of the most brutal genocides throughout the history of human civilization. It was during the Gulf War in 1991. Tomahawk missiles fired from aircraft hundreds of miles away and laser-guided 2,000-pound bombs rained down from planes that were 55,000 feet high in the sky, much to the awe of young children like me. At the time, I was only 8 years old, thus helpless in defending Iraq. Today, I resolve that I will work as hard as possible to help Iraq, for it I am willing to sacrifice my life. One must realize that seeing merciless carnage and destruction at a tender age causes great pain and burns in a soul the fuels of revenge and thunder.

Although I grew up in times of dictatorship in Iraq, and was surrounded by total war at that time, I still have the notion that living in a peaceful society is the main goal for all people. But after I glanced at copious pictures of children dying and suffering due to the lack of medical supplies in Iraq, the major goal of my life has changed, and now I resolve to help Iraqi children survive this tremendous catastrophe.

On April 4th, 1999 I arrived in Vancouver expecting a better life style and true democracy. But after a couple of months, frustration struck me. In this country, I noticed that the lack of restrictions encouraged adults to indulge into drugs and other crimes. This was and is still visible on Hastings Street, Vancouver. Another great factor is the aspect of racism, which makes many people miserable, such as Shyrose Jaffer; the Muslim student in Toronto, who was made fun of because of the scarf she wore. In contrast, I recognized the limited freedom that even prevents me from publicizing an article in my school about the rising death rates of Iraqi children since 1991. Consequently, I just asked myself “Is that the better life style I was expecting?” “Is that the country that ranks as the best in the world according to the UN reports?” “Did I come to the right place?”

Disappointment struck me as I started grade 11 at Palmer. My conversational skills in English were quite weak since I missed the opportunity to learn it back home. Actually, I started high school without the ability to express some simple phrases like “ How are you?” This situation frustrated me and made me miserable since I was getting the highest grades in my country and considered to be among the best students in my city. As a result, I asked myself “Should I give up easily?” “Should I forget my country?” The answer to all these questions was simply “NO”. Although I lacked the ability to properly communicate in English, I considered myself to be blessed by God with faith and courage. I've always had a connection with my Faith. However, the need became greater as I resided in Canada. In the mean time, I started learning English as fast as a rocket. I did not want to be the best student in school as I used to be in my country. I just wanted to be understood by all students in my school. I wanted them to hear me out as I proudly spoke of my country.

“Our prophet, Mohammed, taught us that innocent blood is even more sacred than the stones of Al-Kaa'ba, to which one billion three hundred million Muslims face in their prayers.” From this incentive, I concluded that defending Iraqi children should be the main goal of all frank and patriotic people. These people should be ready to spend the rest of their lives helping Iraq. I too dedicated ten years of my life trying to stop this bloodshed and will continue spending the rest of it conveying the message of Iraqi children to people all around the world. Only by faith and courage I may achieve my goals, and stop the continuous bleeding of Iraqi children.

Ali Abdul-Hussein













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