Losing A Father, An Education And A Life And Smili

[HIV]

That was an e mail I sent earlier today to some family and friends. I am still impressed of how some people can do so much in such an oppressive environment. The outrageous situation in Iraq at the moment is so frustrating that any tiny effort to make a difference in this world is worth while. Keep up the good work Sarah wherever you are!

Regards,

Abdulla


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FORWARD:

I am sorry for boring you with those e mails. But when I read those articles and bits of news, I just have this urge to share them, those are my compulsions that are not treated with SSRIs!

I am in the MICU right now while sending this e mail. This morning, I was complaining that I am going to the hospital everyday including weekends and that life is miserable, given the fact that I do not have my medical diploma till now and have to be American Board certified soon!!!!!

This girl has lost a father, medical education, a country and a life. Despite all that, she is smiling in front of the camera! That made me think about how sad life is for some people and how lucky I am being here!

I wish I can do something for those kids!

Apologies again,

Love you,

Aboodi

Eyewitness: Iraq's brain drain
Sarah Muthanna
Sarah still has no idea what happened to her father
Sarah Muthanna, a medical student from Baghdad, fled Iraq to settle in Jordan after her father was kidnapped. She explores the brain drain from Iraq that is driven by the targeting of the country's academics, doctors and students.
She is a winner of the BBC World Service's Newsmaker competition which invited young journalists to cover stories important to them.
People quote the statistics about the millions of refugees, but the story of every one of them is a tragedy.
In June 2006, my father was kidnapped, and I became part of the tragedy - and part of the statistic.
I was a student at Baghdad University college of medicine, and due to graduate as a doctor in three years. But the pressure of living in a war-torn city became too much to handle, and we had to leave.
Now, I find myself and my mother in Amman. While my wider family are scattered throughout the world, my sister is back in Baghdad and my father has been missing for more than a year and a half.
Fleeing
The Brussels Tribunal, a European NGO, has issued a list of all the academics and professors who have been killed over the last two years.
The list is 15 pages long.
Just going through the first four pages, I personally recognised about 25 names - names so prominent in Iraqi society, doctors who were members of the Arab Board or the Royal College.

It seems like we are not only prisoners in our own country but prisoners here [in Jordan]
These are not random killings. These people are being specifically targeted and hunted down, day by day.
One of the doctors was my paediatrician when I was a kid. He used to give me sweets when he was examining me if I was crying or scared.
Another name I recognised was that of the president of the University of Baghdad. He was killed in his clinic one day.
Academics are people who wear cardigans and sit in libraries reading books all day. They are not people who carry guns or belong to death squads, and this is what happens to them.
It is simply organised killing of the intelligence and brains of Iraq. It is heartbreaking.
And the effect is a crippling brain drain as those left alive are now forced to flee.
"Lots of professors do not want to leave the country," one student says.
"My mum has been teaching at Baghdad college for more than 15 years. But it is so scary, because two of her colleagues were assassinated within a very short period of time. She had to leave."
Not enough places
We are all here, in Amman, and we cannot go back and practice our chosen jobs.
Iraqi medical students in Amman
Amman has become home to large numbers of Iraqi students
It seems like we are not only prisoners in our own country but prisoners here, as well. There are not enough university places.
We so desperately want to finish our education but nobody seems ready to give us the chance and nobody seems to be willing to help us even though Iraq helped many, many Arab students in the past, providing them with free education.
Other students feel let down by Arab countries.
"I feel like I am some kind of virus," says one. "Everyone is rejecting me and turning me away."
I want to tell everyone left behind in Baghdad that I miss them. They are our heroes.
Newsmakers: Iraq's Brain Drain can be heard on BBC World Service's Newshour programme on Sunday 30 October at 2000 GMT.


Abdulla Damluji, MD, MPH
Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
Johns Hopkins University
asalem@jhsph.edu, asalem7@jhmi.edu
mobile: 215-360-5889
Pager: 410-434-2814
Fax:410-550-2959
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[Hour_Glass]

Hi there,

I had the pleasure to work with sarah muthana on this project with other friends
it was an awesome experience for me ... i thank her very much for giving me the chance to say what i wanted to say .....
it is a message we sent to the whole world about the heros in Iraq at the moment
people who are struggling and surviving putting very brave faces to cope and instead of appreciation all the media in this world is portraying Iraqis in a very bad disappointing way as savages and ignorants which is far away from reality ....it is simply the story of everyone of us for the last 4 years.....enjoy it and please listen to the show

thanx sarah for giving me the chance to be part of this at least i feel that i did something for my country


Regards
Farah Baha

[HIV]

Where can I find the show? Please, send me the link, very interested to watch it?
Thanks,
A

[Hour_Glass]

[sarah albadry]

Hi everyone
Im honestly blown away by your kind words
The show will be broadcast on BBC WORLD SERVICE on sunday the 30th of september during the newshour program between 12-1 GMT.
You can also check out the website(if u want to )http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/newsmaker
I tried to do my best, and i hope if there's anyone who happens to hear this report and is going through difficult times in their lives, i hope i helped in some way make them believe that although you feel that the world is upon your shoulder,things will eventually get better, have hope and have faith.
I'd like to thank Farah,Hanan,Mohammed Hatem and Fahad for taking part in our interviews, they are really great young people and i wish them the best from all my heart ,i couldn't have done it without you guys.
Thank you.
Sarah Muthanna

[m7md7atem]

It was a privilege to have cooperated with you guys, Fahad, Farah, Hanan, and Sarah
I hope the show achieves its goal by bringing attention to this heartbreaking brain drain.

Please send me information about the time and date of airing

[sarah albadry]

Another thing, i dont want to sound ungrateful,thanks ali adil and all your friends who showed up that day,and i'm very sorry that we didn't have time to interview you guys(3la il jayat insha allah),and if i ever become a famous CNN reporter i promise i'll pay you the 50JDs for the football match you cancelled
And thank you Mohammed Jafar for the audio files from baghdad.

Sarah Muthanna

[Fahad Sheikhly]

Well ,I'd like to say thank you sarah for giving us the chance to show our problems as students of medicine were in baghdad univ. and came to amman or even the problems of students who stayed in baghdad and of course i like to thank m7md 7atem,hanan and farah with sarah for the team working.
I hope we did something that may let the world to see the suffering of the iraqi students anywhere.

FAHAD

[hammodi]

hi

it's really cool what u did guys glad i helped (just a little ). great job and u r welcome sarah

btw is the time for the show 12 GMT am or pm, i guess am, right? which means at 4 am baghdad time?

smiles

[m7md7atem]

I've never listened to the radio on the satellite.

Do you know the frequence of BBC World on Nilesat? Am I rambling or does it really have a a frequencey just like a TV channel ?