A Day in the Life of an Ordinary Iraqi

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IRIN via Electronic Iraq - Sep 11, 2006
http://electronicIraq.net/news/2477.shtml

A day in the life of an ordinary Iraqi

IRIN, 11 September 2006

BAGHDAD - These are tough times for Mustafa Kubaissy, a 48-year-old
shopkeeper in Baghdad. He has been leading a troubled life for the past
three years since the US-led invasion of Iraq which ousted former president
Saddam Hussein.

"Unfortunately our country has become a mess, with lack of essential items
escalating prices and deteriorating security conditions. The only victims
of this disaster are us, innocent people who have started to believe that
life under Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime was much better than is
now," Kubaissy said.

He wakes up at five o'clock in the morning, washes and says his dawn
prayers. These days he prefers to pray at home instead of going to his
local Sunni mosque in his predominantly Shi'a neighbourhood. As a rule, he
has learnt to avoid places of congregation and any crowds. He fears that
one day his local mosque could be targeted by Shi'a militants.

As he takes his breakfast, Kubaissy listens to news bulletins on the
television and radio to learn of the latest violence in Baghdad. He also
telephones his aged parents and his sick aunt to see if they have passed
the night alright. With the state of emergency extended and a curfew
imposed by the government, locals sometimes have difficulties in getting
health assistance during the night.

After breakfast, Kubaissy drives his two daughters - Lana and Hala - in an
old rickety car to Baghdad University. He takes about an hour for a journey
that would normally take ten minutes, due to heavy morning traffic in
Baghdad made worse by road blocks. Lana is reading French while Hala is
studying to be a dentist.

With car bombs, rocket attacks and kidnappings common in today's Baghdad,
Kubaissy is always alert and acts as a bodyguard to protect himself and his
daughters.

"Everyday I have to choose a different route to avoid becoming another
victim of violence," Kubaissy said. He prefers roads which are far from
government buildings where explosions normally occur on an almost daily
basis.

Kubaissy said that he cannot leave his daughters alone, especially after
hearing of girls who had been raped as they were returning home from
college.

"I do not trust anyone now, especially because I have girls. Their honour
should be protected and in this bad security situation, it is only us, the
fathers, who can protect our daughters. Six months ago, Lana was hurt in an
explosion at the door of her college. It is better for me to keep my eyes
wide open if I want them alive," he said.

After the stressed journey to university, Kubaissy goes to his shop to try
and make money to support his family.

"I sell clothes but for nearly a year I have been having serious problems
because people have not had enough money to buy new clothes like before.
Poverty has increased as salaries have become low. Each day is becoming
more tough to make sufficient dinars to make life decent for my wife and
daughters," he said.

"When I return back home at 10 o'clock at night, I have to juggle to see
how I can pay the bills, the huge prices for petrol for my generator
[electricity supply is erratic] and my vehicle, the vegetables that
everyday are getting more costly and in addition how to pay the expensive
rent for my house. The rent has increased 300 percent since 2003," Kubaissy
said.

The price of petrol has risen 13 times from US $0.1 per litre in 2003 to US
$1.3 in 2006, especially in the capital and the price for a bottle of gas
for cooking has increased 32 times from US $0.5 to $16 per 20 litre.

The increase in petrol prices notwithstanding some of the queues at petrol
stations are now over two kilometers long, this in a country which is
ranked third in the world in terms of oil production. Iraqis can be seen
sitting in their cars for hours on end in intense heat to get their cars
filled - sometimes for prices that are 10 times higher than the normal
ones.

Kubaissy is also under pressure from his Shi'a neighbours to leave his
home, a house which he had bought after working for 15 years.

"Most of my neighbours are Shi'a and they have changed completely towards
us. They have become tougher, less educated and some of them have even
started telling us that our presence here is dangerous since we are Sunnis
and could bring insurgents to our neighbourhood," he said.

"All those years before the US-led invasion of Iraq they were very friendly
with us but because of the sectarian violence that has spread in our
country, people have started to change, forgetting the good heart that they
always had," Kubaissy said.

Despite the difficulties, Kubaissy goes on with his life, hoping that soon
his daughters would be able to go on their own to their classes, that his
wife would make it to the shop unaccompanied and that he could afford to
satisfy all his needs without difficulties.

"Hope is the last feeling that dies in a human being and although
frustrated with what is going on in Iraq I expect one day to sit in my sofa
without power cuts, with clean water and good food, even if it takes more
than 10 years," Kubaissy said. "I hope violence will not deprive me of that
pleasure."

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information
service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or
its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted
free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is
a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.]

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