Notes from the Field: From Nasriya to Diwaniya, South Iraq,
Be the change you want to see in the world. M. Ghandi
Be the change you want to see in the world. M. Ghandi
On the three hour journey from Nasriya to
Diwaniya part of the drive was one way only, meaning that the road was one way each side. This makes the
travel more dangerous because the driver has to cross to the opposite lane if he/she wants to pass; and they always want to pass. Driving here can be dangerous,
this road was nicknamed the “Death Road” because of so many accidents. To make
things worst, Iraqis do not wear the seatbelt, so accidents are fatal. But my colleague told me not to worry, as he had experience driving inside and outside Iraq. In practical terms, he drove Iraqi style, but wearing the seatbelt. Nice combination!
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| One of the Mawkebs in the road to Diwaniya, South Iraq. Photo by Johanna. L. Rivera |
This road is the road that
leads to Kerbala, one of the holiest cities for Shia Muslims after Mecca and Medina. It is home to
the Imam Hussein
Shrine. Karbala is famous as the site of the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali (Imam Hussein),
and commemorations are held by millions of Shias annually to remember it. People
walk from different Iraqi provinces to reach Kerbala. The road is full of mawkebs.
These are resting places that receive Shia pilgrims. Mawkebs welcome in
pilgrims to sleep, eat or rest while on their pilgrimage; a kind of Camino de
Santiago in Spain for Christians. The mawkebs are free and are financed by the
town’s people. They believe that by such acts of hospitality, Allah will grant
them blessings.
A pair of young Iraqis
hosted us for lunch in Nasriya. One of them helped us with translation during the
seminar. One of them is an actor and the other one is a producer. We were invited to their home and when we arrived, of course, there was no electricity. It soon kicked
in, and the AC started, but only for 2 hours. We were watching the Egyptian
comedian that is famous for making fun of Morsi. Our pair was telling us about
how is it to live in Iraq, especially Nasriya. They had been trying to organise a protest about the lack of electricity. As protests are forbidden, they
were just pretending to be hanging out on the street, suddenly taking out signs
that read: “Where is the electricity?” I already mentioned the issues related
to electricity on my previous post, no wonder the youth is trying to
organize protests to demand their government to provide basic services. They
said they were dismissed with the promise that there will be electricity for 16
hours. “Not really true, they are lying”, they said.
Recently, there was a big explosion in a café in Baghdad where around 40 people died, many of them youth. This
sparked a big campaign all over Iraq; No to sectarianism. I saw this phrase
written in a couple of places, one of them a checkpoint. Our friends in Nasriya
showed me a jacket with the same slogan written. They told me they had been in
Baghdad for a rally. I am humbled by the creativity and energy of Iraqi youth
that are continuously challenged by an environment of violence but that refuse
to give up and come with creative ways to express their opposition to violence and sectarianism.
Over dinner, we were already
in Diwaniya. We were discussing about our work and Nawres was saying that she
is often challenged because of her volunteer work. She is a blogger and a
journalist and she is working from inside to change her society. Her motivation to work against all these challenges is that she wants to leave a print, a mark on the world. She
wants to become immortal through her activism; to leave something so when she
dies people remember her. She tells us that at her workplace, she is the only
woman, yet she has gained the respect of her colleagues by building up her
department infrastructure and systems. Another friend, who works in the
Ministry of Environment, said that is not allowed to work with civil society
and at the same time to be a government employee. He said that he works "low-
profile".
For the last 4 days, I had
the opportunity to meet Iraqi youth from Basra, Amara, Nasriya and Diwaniya
provinces. These youth was not passive; they showed to be a great example of
empowerment, of how to work against sectarianism. For example, like the work of
a group of youth in Amara, called Team Ana Missan. They visited a hospital to
deliver flowers, organized different activities like cleaning drives. In Nasriya, this group of young people have in turn organised and are demanding action from their government to solve the electricity
problem that exhausts the lives of many, many Iraqis.
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| Some of the youth in Amara in one of the seminars about the water issues in Iraq |
In Diwaniya, the youth
mobilized to convince the dean of the College of Law about the importance to
have a seminar to discuss the water problems and the impacts of
hydropower/irrigation projects upstream. They convinced the dean by explaining
that the problem was not only in the Tigris River but that everything is
connected. They clarified that these dams will have big socio-economic impacts on
agriculture, fishing and that the people depending on the Tigris could look
into the Euphrates for a source of water, therefore affecting the way water is
used in the Euphrates-Tigris basin. So, if you are overwhelmed like me from
media propaganda victimizing Iraqis who live in constant violence, let these
lines serve to show how the Iraqi youth is actively working to end sectarianism
and violence in Iraq.
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| Youth in Diwaniya also self-organized a seminar in the Collegue of Law in Diwaniya |
They are a living example of working to “Be the Change that you want to see in
the World”
