Life in Iraq is dangerous for children
When she is dancing, Annie, age ten, forgets how bad life is outside her school's walls in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
Annie and her friend Meriam enjoy learning new ballet steps, and they laugh a lot. But outside the school, armed guards patrol the walls. Fear of bombs, kidnappings, attacks and gun battles has become part of everyday life where she lives.
'I am not allowed to play outside,' explains Annie. 'My mum is afraid that I will be kidnapped.' The other girls nod. Many mothers in Baghdad are too afraid to let their children walk alone to school or play in the streets.
Annie and Meriam are students of the Baghdad School of Music and Ballet. There are about 250 students at the school, and they learn to play instruments as well as dance. Recently, everything in the school was stolen by looters, but they are now looking forward to getting new instruments from an orchestra in Norway.
When Saddam Hussein was president of Iraq, music and dance were not part of life there, but now music is helping people to forget some of the terrible things that have happened. They dream that their capital city will become safe again, so that they can tear down the walls around the school and share their music with others.
|
|
Hege Opseth, Norwegian Church Aid, ACT International
Annie and her friends practising their dance moves
Hege Opseth, Norwegian Church Aid, ACT International
Annie and her friends in the dance class
Click here to see where Iraq is
|
