HW 33 Podcast and Iraqi Children

I watched the podcast “Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families” which was part of the Alive in Baghdad series. The link to it is http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families/. This podcast was published on October 15th, 2007. After watching it, it is quite obvious that the message that’s trying to get a crossed was simply that most teens in Iraq must help their families with the work because the unemployment rate in Iraq is over half of the population. There is only a handful who could help there families. Throughout the podcast three children are shown talking about their lives in helping out their families. The first is Hussein Kamal who is only fifteen years old. He says that he helps his father with carpentry during the holidays. He states that his brother taught him how to paint furniture. The next child is only fourteen and is in sixth grade. His name is Mustafa Malek Fathullah Ali. He informs us that he has worked with his father in carpentry since he was a child. He says that the security situation is difficult and no one can protect themselves. He is currently helping his uncle at his house. The final child that they show us is named Yousif. Yousif does not help his family with work. He is enrolled in the College of Agriculture in Abu Ghraib. Yousif is currently unemployed. He also suffers from a birth defect. He lets us know that a habit he has developed is just sitting at the computer. Anyone who watches this podcast might feel a sense of pity towards the Iraqi people who were once able to live normal lives, but since the war are forced to be more cautious with their daily. The most memorable thing I find about this podcast are the boys ending statements to the Arab people telling them to stop supporting terrorism because we obviously are trying to stop terrorism too.