Iraqi family interviewed before the war started

[redwitch]

Father a university professor
oldest daughter a student at the university
youngest daughter a diabetic
father showed the spot where he hoped to keep her insulin cool during the war

I do not remember which MSM had this story, CNN, MSNBC? but I sure would like a follow up over three years later.
Are they alive or dead? Do they have her medicine, a place to keep it safe? Is the father teaching again, is oldest back at her college classes?
Or do they sit together in the dark each night afraid and despairing?
I kept thinking of them during Katrina, we had so many of our own families in the same situation.

[redwitch]

1. doesn't anyone else remember this interview?

help!

[area51]

7. I remember seeing it,

but don't remember much of the details.

[spuddonna]

2. I don't remember this story but giving a kick...

Maybe someone else does! :)

I have a sister who is diabetic. If you need insulin, you need someway to keep it cool. With all the power outages, I would think that they're having a hard time coping... :( Hope they are alright...

[redwitch]

3. thanks for the kick

I would love them to be interviewed again, I want them to be alright. Two things I remember very clearly from the early days. One is this family, I cannot stop thinking about them.
The other is the silence of Baghdad just before the invasion/bombing started- except for the dogs barking. not a sound except for that. I got up early in the morning and turned on the television. When I heard the dogs I started to cry. It broke my heart. :cry:

[spuddonna]

4. I know how you feel...

I read this quote from Helen Thomas this morning and my stomache hurt:
"Standing on a rooftop, an American soldier recently fired a shot at an Iraqi man walking down the street. As the dying Iraqi grabbed at his wound, he cried out: "What did I do?""

I hope it all ends soon... Peace.

[oblivious]

5. If you google the girl's name you may find out: AULA AL-WINDAWI

Original story:

Baghdad Family Braced for Allied Blitz
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0301-04.htm

Google: AULA AL-WINDAWI
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=AULA+AL-WINDAWI&btnG=Search

[redwitch]

6. You are fabulous!

:loveya: I did not remember her/their name, how did you?

[oblivious]

8. I remembered reading it on Common Dreams.

I'd be interested to know if you find anything.

[Maru Kitteh]

9. Wow. Incredible.

They showed me two storage tanks full of water just outside the study. They opened a cupboard bursting with sacks of rice, beans, sugar, tea and soap, all supplied by the Iraqi Government.

“Every ordinary Iraqi family has this,” Mrs al-Windawi said. “This is enough for us to live on for several months.”

<snip>

The lack of electricity is one of the family’s biggest worries. Aula is a diabetic, a condition her father is convinced is a result of the bombing of December 1998. “She developed it two weeks after the bombing started. She was a healthy little girl before that,” he said. “I am sure her body suffered too much trauma.”

<snip>

Dr al-Windawi admits to feeling helpless in the face of something he can’t control. “I worked hard for this family,” he said. “I don’t want to lose them in the war.”

[antigone382]

11. Imagine that, their government gave them survival goods

Enough to live on for a few months? Sounds like FEMA could learn a few things from the Iraqis

I hope this family is alright. I watched Control Room last week and just felt so much shame and grief over what we have done to Iraqis who did nothing to us.

[cantstandbush]

12. I remember that story and a story about Saddam ordering rations to be give

to all Iraqi families in preparation for the invasion. I believe they were to be given water, rations, and a gun.

[Maru Kitteh]

10. Maybe you can find the reporter who did the story,

Janine di Giovanni. It's probably MUCH too dangerous for her to go back and look for them again but maybe she could help, somehow.

[redwitch]

13. I just left a message for her online.

I hope she responds and has an answer for me. Of course I willo keep you posted. thanks!

[Catrina]

14. The oldest daughter kept a diary which was turned into a book

apparently ~ and according to this she was not able to return to college in Iraq, but is now attending school. The rest of her family escaped to Jordan:

Her father and mother and two sisters moved to Jordan


http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:zT16zuZRJPQJ:www.sas.upenn.edu/sasalum/newsltr/fall05/thuras_diary.pdf+AULA+AL-WINDAWI&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5

Another article here ~

http://www.stonesoup.com/br2/2006/thura.html

Thura, she is the oldest daughter ~ and I'm not sure what country she is in, although it seems she might be here in the US ~

[redwitch]

15. Thank you so much Catrina

I feel better knowing how they have fared. I am relieved that they made it out. Now how do we get the rest of the civilian population into Jordan?

[Catrina]

16. You're welcome, I used the google search link provided above in

this thread ~

Although they did survive, it's sad when you read what happened to them as soon as the bombs started falling, and compare that to the first article, when they were preparing. I remember thinking, after seeing some video of a marketplace before the war, that it was not possible to think that George Bush was planning to drop bombs on these people.

After reading the interview with that family, they could be a family here. A lot of people here never consider the human beings who will die when they cheer on these horrible wars.

She wrote in her diary that they were so frightened after the bombs started falling ~ I can imagine ~ I wondered before the war also, if the city was going to be evacuated. But it wasn't. So many died. There was a little boy, Ali, that MSNBC or CNN did a documentary on during the bombing phase. He lost his whole family, he was the only survivor after a bomb hit their apartment, his pregnant mom, dad and grandmother I think.

He was crying in pain in the video, having lost both arms, and his stomach was injured. The doctors did not have pain medication, as the hospitals were all being looted. They showed the doctors trying to keep the looters out, and there were NO troops guarding the hospitals.

Because of that video, ALI was eventually taken to Jordan and was treated there ~ I wonder how many more people like that there were, how many the neocons killed when they dropped their bombs.

The girl who wrote that diary and her family were safe up to at least the Fall of 2005, but the father goes back and forth to Iraq to take care of other family members, the article says. His wife worries about him. They also thought their youngest daughter had been killed in one of the bombings ~ but she was saved and that's when they decided to leave I think.

Why don't we hear more about ordinary families like this? I hope we hear more about this family and that they all survive ~ they seem like such wonderful people, very family oriented and neighbors taking care of each other ~ if there is a god, George Bush will have a lot to answer for. This is such a crime.

[redwitch]

17. Found the journalist Janine di Giovanni, here's an update:

Judy – thanks for your query via the Dart Centre website about Janine Di Giovani, and your wondering what became of the family she interviewed when the war began. Janine asked for the following reply to be sent on to you – her book is well worth the read!


without sounding like a self promoter, if you buy my new book THE PLACE AT THE END OF THE WORLD, there is the story of the iraqi family and the aftermath of what happened to them. its in the chapter called THE PROFESSOR FROM BAGHDAD. you can buy it online at amazon.co.uk, and it tells of heir history and what happened to them after the war...

With best wishes,

Mark

_____________________________________________
Mark Brayne
Director Europe, Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma

Work Tel: [phone]

Mobile: [phone]

Website: www.dartcentre.org

The Dart Centre in Europe:

· Is a forum and resource for promoting the ethical, sensitive and informed reporting of tragedy and violence;

· Supports the education of working journalists and journalism students in the science and psychology of trauma and its impact;

· Develops and promotes the organisational, peer-led and individual support of journalists and teams who cover trauma;

· Supports and disseminates research and best practice in the field of journalism and trauma.

[Catrina]

18. Thanks for the update redwitch ~ I'd like to read that book. I wish we

knew more about the ordinary Iraqi people ~ I'm sure there are incredibly tragic stories that will never be told ~

On another forum, we met an Iraqi man who had come to know one of the participants there. He was one of the nicest people there ~ we are now worried about him, as he hasn't posted for a few weeks. The last time we heard from him, he said 'things are very bad here now' and apologized for not being able to post more often ~ he couldn't post often before the recent violence, because of the electricity going off all the time. I can't imagine what it is like there.

The international community needs to get involved ~ it's obvious that this administration is not capable of doing what needs to be done there. It's a crime that three years after the war began, those poor people still have very little electricity.

It seems that Saddam Hussein took way better care to prepare the Iraqi people for this disaster ~ at least he gave them supplies to last a few months.

[Roland99]

19. Would be nice if she gave a little teaser.

[oblivious]

20. Really! Her response to genuine concern is "Buy my book to find out!"

I find that repulsive!

[Roland99]

21. I live a stone's throw from a Barnes and Noble....

I think I'll walk up there tomorrow and read that chapter. :D

[redwitch]

22. yeah, but I will cut her some slack

as much as necessary. War journalists maybe have a thick crust for a reason?