Anwar s oral history is about her childhood in Iraq and life in Iraq during war. Learn more by listening to Anwar s complete oral history.

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1 Anwar s oral history is about her childhood in Iraq and life in Iraq during war. Learn more by listening to Anwar s complete oral history. Listen and read along to Anwar s oral history either on the wiki or with your teacher. I ran to my house to get my gun. I wanted to stop one of the cars to help us take the ladies to the hospital. No one would stop for us. I went to get something to scare them to stop for us. Anwar was born in Basra, a large city in Iraq, in She had five brothers and sisters. Her mother stayed home to look after the family and her father worked as an engineer. Anwar s childhood was wonderful. She lived with a loving family in a big house in a caring and friendly neighbourhood. Every day after finishing her homework she played outside with friends. Anwar loved going to school in her grey and white uniform. She learned all the standard subjects and English, Theatre, Dancing, Religion and sports such as Soccer and Tennis. Christians and Muslims went to school together. The education system was free and everyone over the age of six had to attend. Anwar says standards were very high and most students finished school and got some sort of qualification. When Anwar was in Year 11 in 1980 the Iran Iraq War started. Bombs dropped as Anwar and her friends walked to school. Some students committed suicide because they did not want to be mutilated or killed by a bomb. Anwar knew many people who were killed including cousins, workmates, neighbours and friends. Anwar s house was bombed and the baby next door died from flying shrapnel. The bombs, flashes and planes were constant and terrifying. One day Anwar thought a fly had buzzed her head. She could smell burning and felt a lump of her hair drop. A bullet had almost hit her head. 1

2 Ordinary people tried to live a normal life. Anwar s family slept on beds on the flat roof of their house in summer as usual because it was too hot inside. Anwar remembers that the light from the bomb flashes made it hard to sleep! During the war Anwar finished school and went to university. She qualified as a teacher and an accountant. She married but there weren t many people at her wedding because the city had become too dangerous to live in. Anwar s family stayed because they wanted to be near the eldest son who was in the Iraqi army. Iraqi men had to join the army and women had to care for their local community. Women had to join the Local Army. The Local Army was set up to do first aid; show women how to use guns and how to react to bombs. Anwar was a Local Army trainer. One day she saw a bomb hit a neighbour s house. Three women were very badly hurt; they all had limbs blown off. Anwar tried to stop passing cars to take them to hospital but people were too scared to stop. Anwar got her family s gun to scare people into stopping and it worked, three cars stopped to help. Anwar was positive all through the war. She suffered terribly from everything she experienced but she wanted to get on with her life. She married and moved to Baghdad, worked as an accountant and had two children. The Iran Iraq War ended in 1988 but another war started in Men working in her office cried when they heard there was another war. Another war began in Anwar came to Australia in She will probably never return to Iraq because it is too dangerous. After three wars the beautiful country of her childhood has gone. She now has four children. Anwar loves helping people and working in the Welfare industry. Anwar completed a TAFE NSW Welfare course at Sutherland College, Loftus Campus in

3 CLOZE EXERCISE Fill in the missing words from Anwar story. Choose words that make sense. You also need to think about correct grammar. Try to spell the words correctly. You will find it helpful to read to the end of the sentence that has a missing word. Reading an earlier part of the story may help you. Sometimes a space can have more than one correct answer. When Anwar was in Year 11 in 1980 the Iran Iraq War started. Bombs dropped as Anwar and her 1 walked to school. Anwar knew many people who were killed 2 cousins, workmates, neighbours and friends. Anwar s house was bombed. The bombs, flashes 3 planes were constant and terrifying. One day Anwar thought a fly had buzzed her 4. She could smell burning and felt a lump of her hair drop. A bullet had 5 hit her head. Ordinary people tried to live a 6 life. Anwar s family slept on beds on the flat roof of their 7 in summer as usual because it was too hot inside. 8 remembers that the light from the bomb flashes made it 9 to sleep! During the war Anwar finished school and went to 10. She qualified as a teacher and an accountant. She married 11 there weren t many people at her 12 because the city had become too dangerous to live in. Anwar s 13 stayed because they wanted to be near the eldest son who was 14 the Iraqi army. 3

4 Basra VOCABULARY and LANGUAGE When you read the story highlight or underline any words or groups of words you don t understand. The box at the side has some of the difficult words. Discuss the words with your teacher. Ask a classmate for help. Try to work out the meaning from the rest of the story. Look up the words in a dictionary or in a thesaurus. Remember to find the meaning that matches the context of the story. Should any of the words be added to your personal spelling list? Research the following on the internet: Bomb flashes, Local Army, Welfare Industry. SAYINGS and IDIOMS Anwar s mother stayed home to look after the family. What sorts of jobs did Anwar s mother do? At school Anwar learner all the standard subjects. Make a list of the subjects Anwar studied at school. Iraq / Iraqi Engineer Neighbourhood Christians Muslims Qualification Iran Committed Mutilated Shrapnel University Qualified Accountant Community Limbs Experienced Baghdad Welfare Industry 4

5 UNDERSTANDING THE STORY Answer each question with a complete sentence or sentences. Use the story and questions to help you write answers that are grammatically correct. 1. What does Anwar talk about in her Oral History? 2. Describe Anwar s childhood. 3. Why did Anwar s life change when she was in Year 11? 4. What jobs did Anwar qualify for after finishing Year 11? 5. How is Anwar s life different now? Explain your answer. 5

6 WRITING Write a personal response to Anwar s story. Remember, in Personal Response text you say how you feel about what you have read or listened to. Draft and correct your writing. 6

7 HISTORY and RESEARCH Iran Iraq War Each side blamed the other side started this war but the conflict began when Iraq invaded Iran in September Both sides disagreed about the border between the two countries. During the eight years of war neither side made noteworthy gains as a result of the fighting. Over 300,000 people from the two countries lost their lives during the war. Hundreds of thousands more people were wounded. Countless people lost their homes and communities. The financial cost of the war is estimated at over one billion US dollars. 1. Anwar s story shows how ordinary people are affected by war as they do their daily activities. Discuss this in class. 2. Draw a timeline of the conflicts in this region in recent times. 3. Anwar talks about the following countries and cities Iraq, Iran, Basra, and Baghdad. Find these places on a map. 4. Research on the internet to find out what is meant by the term, Middle East. 5. If you would like to learn more about the Iran - Iraq War visit: Anwar in Sydney