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The following exerpts are
from letters written in the final month of the pilot progrqam by
Iraqi and American youths who have formed invaluable relationships
with one another through the Young Ambassador
program:
April
2009
Iraqi
Kids
“A
day I cried was when Baghdad was invaded, I was really scared. I
also cried when Iraqi soccer team lost in
soccer. “
“I love poetry. I love writing poetry so
I'm going to write you a poem I hope you like it! I love Arabic
and American music.”
“I hope you become one of my best
friends. You're like me, you like peace and
freedom.”
“I hope you can visit Iraq but things
right now are hard and you can't visit.
You're use to peace and haven't seen
war or misfortune. I hope to receive a letter from you soon.
I'm so happy to meet you and I wish you all the
best.
P.S. I hope for peace in the Middle
East.”
“I want to welcome our new friendship and
I am glad to build a bridge between us. I'm happy to meet you and I
want to tell you that I love the fact that American students want to
communicate with Iraqi Students and I want to thank you for
participating in this program and thank all the American students
who are doing so as well.”
“Thank you for being so concerned about
my country, and I hope for things to get better in my country
too.
I'm a girl in 9th grade. I'm
14 years old but I'm turning 15 soon.”
“I love classical music and I like
Lincoln Park the band. I love technology very much. My favorite
things are mobile phones and new
electronics.”
“I'm a good student in school and I have
many friends. My dream is to visit America one day, because I hear
it’s a beautiful country.”
“I hope we become best friends for ever.
I'm waiting for a letter from you.”
“I also like playing video games
specially the game midnight club. It’s a car race game, in addition
a game called PES 2009 Soccer its a famous soccer game.. I'm
addicted to it.”
“My dream is to become a good citizen of
the world and for my country and to be able to help Iraq and making
it a safe place in the world. I
want to help rebuild my
country and maybe to become a teacher to teach Iraqi kids,
or to become a doctor to cure Iraqi children and or to become a
engineer to rebuild Iraq and to be able to help my country in anyway
I can.”
“A gift that I've never forgotten was a
gift from my grandmother, when I was a little girl she gave me a
doll and I still have it and cherish it, Its very special to
me.
My friends and I hang out and we
laugh about all kinds of things.”
“You asked about my religion, I'm
Muslim but I don't discriminate against any religion, I have friends
that are Christian and I love them very much. I hope we become
really good friends.”
”I love reading and my favorite
author is Agatha Christie, I love music.”
“My best friend gave me the most
wonderful gift in the world before she moved, it was a note book
with our memories and on the front page a picture of me and her, I
hold this gift to my heart dearly.”
“I'm going to celebrate my birthday
but my father won't be here to celebrate with me because he had to
leave to Europe. His life was in danger because he's a doctor, and
they have been killing doctors here in
Baghdad.”
“I'm really happy to meet you. I'm so
happy to meet a person from a different back round and different
language and how happy am I that that person is you!”
“I like the English language and my
pronunciation is good. I don't have any American friends, so it
would be great if we continue writing.
What are your thoughts about
writing to an Arabic person or Iraqi
person? “
“The drawing is about my favorite book,
the Quran. Its a very special book that I learn from. I learn
from it to be a better person. What's your favorite
book?”
“My dream is to become a successful
engineer and serve my country in every way I can. What are your
dreams and hopes?”
“I like basket ball and my favorite team
is the Lakers.
I also like Japanese
electronics and my favorite character is Naroto and
Digmon. These days we're celebrating the profit
Muhammad's birthday, so all the kids and adults gather and
celebrate. I would like to learn more about America and what
programs you watch. I
received your letter and I'm
really happy to meet you and I hope we become good friends. I
also want to be an engineer in the future, we have a lot in
common.”
“The best gift I've ever received in
my life till now, was a gift from one of my best friends, he gave me
a pen with my name on it. He got it when he was traveling out side
the country. I love this pen and it means so much to me even though
it’s just a pen. I love it because it’s from my best
friend.”
“I read in your letter that you hate
losing. I also hate losing. Sometimes in some situations we should
view loosing as a learning experience.”
“A time I laughed a lot was when my
friends and I had a picnic at a park in Baghdad and we just made fun
of each other. A time when I cried a lot was when we moved out
of Iraq in 2003 and went to a different country and left all my
friends and relatives. I cried everyday a lot.”
“I believe I can be anything I want if I
put my mind in to it.
My dream is to be an
architect and visit every country and learn about it and its culture
and people.”
“I like sports, like tennis, soccer,
running, and by the way I'm the fastest runner on my
street.”
“My favorite books are by Agatha
Christie a collection of crime stories, she's great! So
cool! My dream is to become a computer
programmer.
My favorite music is Rock and my
favorite band is Lincoln park. What's your favorite music? My
favorite song is "Lying From You" and Given Up. They are a real
great band! The answer to your question on what
position I play in soccer I play Midfielder. I also like
Japanese Animation, my favorite character is Naruto.”
“I hope I get to meet you one day, have
you ever traveled out side of the USA?
Would you ever visit
Iraq?”
“I hope
for our friendship to grow as brothers.”
“I don’t
have any American friends so it would be great if we continued
writing.”
US Kids
‘I am in love with a girl and can not
tell her that I love her. Will you help me out? What should I say to
her? She is my friend and I don’t know if she will like it if I tell
her.”
“I recently got my hair cut really
short. I am going to dye some of it green
tomorrow.”
“I drew a picture of a sun coming out
from behind a cloud, which means that there is always something good
after really bad stuff happens.”
“When you write back, tell me how to
introduce myself in Arabic. Someday I really want to learn your
language.”
“I love my phone. It’s a great way to
stay connected with friends and it’s a good time-waster, too! I’m
always on the phone!”
“I heard your country just had an
election! That’s great! It is really incredible to see how much
progress has been made in Iraq. We are happy for you
guys.”
February 2009
Greetings,
We are thrilled to report that our U.S./Iraq Young
Ambassadors program has completed its first segment between kids in
Minnesota, New York City and Washington DC, and their new Iraqi
friends in Baghdad, Kirkuk and Suleimanya--and already the results
are astounding!
75 American children have begun the first
ever youth peace-building process with
Iraq, and, while discovering their many similarities
(soccer!), and learning about the cradle of civilization, they have
also experienced the joy of sharing their stories and
lives. More importantly, they have begun to put a gentle human face
on a mysterious land that has been a source
of misunderstanding, confusion and fear.
In each
session, as kids bunched into groups and read out loud to each
other from the letters they'd received from their new friends
in Iraq...whispering and laughing about what they were writing
back...we knew we were watching something magical. This was history
in the making.
We also discovered the shared dreams for peace
and service that this next generation of leaders-these Young
mbassadors who have given their time to our program-promise to
fulfill.
Reading the compassion in their letters, we couldn't
help but feel profound hope. This is a historical time for our
country, as well as the world, and these kids are doing their part
by reaching out their hands in friendship to those who may otherwise
distrust and fear us.
In the coming sessions the kids will
continue to learn about their cultures through the life-stories they
share with one other, as well as explore conflict
resolution and cross cultural dialogue strategies.
We
are excited to share our progress with you, and are grateful for
your interest in our one-of-a-kind peace-building
program.
Please
consider supporting the growth of this very important program.
Together we can provide a life of peace, of hope and of change for
our children worldwide.
Sincerely,
The War Kids Relief Team
Pam
Middleton, Charles London, Sandra Hakim, Gunnar Swanson, Dina Fesler
and Jon Powers
"One thing I think is cool about
this program is that we Americans don't know anything about you guys
except what we see on the news. And I'm really glad that I can get
to know about your life from you!"
-U.S. Young Ambassador
girl
"My hope is to settle down
the current situation in Iraq and the world. When I go to school
everyday I am afraid of explosions. I'd like to be successful in
helping others, peace and faithfulness, love and equality and
freedom, and finishing my studies
perfectly."
-Iraq Young Ambassador boy
"Like you said in your letter, you want to create peace. I
want to create peace also, like your
friends."
-U.S. Young Ambassador boy
"I want a game maker, and I want to have a
country without kidnappings. I am afraid of losing hopes about my
country."
-Iraq Young Ambassador boy
"I
bet Iraq is nothing like what I see on
television."
-U.S. Young Ambassador girl
"My
family was living together under one roof but after this situation
occurred, most of them faced threat and left to very faraway
places."
-Iraq Young Ambassador girl
"I
can tell your life is difficult but keep up your optimism. I want
peace in the world and I want to help you build the new
world."
-U.S. Young Ambassador girl
"I'd
like to meet the new friends that I may meet through this program. I
was delighted to write this letter."
-Iraq Young Ambassador girl
"It's
hard for me to imagine living in a war. My fears are so different
than yours. Some of my fears are what if my friends don't like
me?"
-U.S. Young Ambassador girl
January
2009
Newsletter:
-Young Ambassadors Program Takes
Off-
The residents of Northfield,
Minnesota, didn’t let a little winter weather stop them from coming
out to support the launch of Children’s Culture Connection’s War
Kids Relief program on January
9.
Nearly 100 people attended the
reception/fundraiser for War Kids at the headquarters of College
City Beverage in Dundas, MN. The next day War Kids held its first
Young Ambassador Program at the Northfield Public Library.
The Young Ambassador Program, a pilot
program which will be offered in New York City and suburban
Washington, D.C. as well as in Northfield, is designed to educate
American kids about Iraq, its culture, people, and history, and then
to build connections between U.S. and Iraqi
kids.
At the launch reception guests heard
from program directors Pam Middleton, Charles London, and Sandra
Hakim, as well as from CCC executive director Dina
Fesler.
The hit of the night, however, was
the moving talk given by military veteran Gunnar Swanson, a new War
Kids team member who spoke of his encounters with the children of
Iraq, and of his strong desire to do prevent the children of
both the US and Iraq from experiencing war as he
has.
Swanson will be doing a cross-country
walk later this year to raise money for War Kids
Relief.
(Pictured above left to right: Sandra
Hakim, Charles London, Dina Fesler, Pam Middleton, Gunnar
Swanson)
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