My U.S. Memoir: In the Capitol Hill-Last Part

by Mahdi Mala Abdullah

Mahdi Murad is talking about
 "Life back home (Iraq)"in the
 Capitol Hill.

Capitol Hill was another place where I turned one of my best dreams into reality. The building of the Capitol Hill was a place where I could only have observed in the news and movies before. I have never thought to get a day when I could walk into that building ever. However, as it has been said, ‘Dreams never die,’ I could be within that building during my trip to the U.S. I could not only visit into that building, but also stood on my feet in front of the large number of people and outline life in Iraq. July 12^th, 2011, was a day when I explained several economical, political, and educational issues that were facing my people around all the Iraqi provinces. 

It was also a day when I could introduce Kurdistan, as an autonomous region of Iraq, and surprise my audiences by mentioning the developments that this region has gained compare to the other parts of Iraq so far. I was so proud of myself when I was the first Kurd whom a large number of people have heard about the word of Kurdistan. Before I gave that speech, I thought everyone around the globe knew about Kurdistan because of several dramatic events that this region has faced in its history. However, I was wrong. I could rarely find one who knew about Kurdistan. When I told them about the strong security situation that Kurdistan had, everyone was gasped and could hardly believe that. All they heard about Iraq and its provinces were car-bombing, religious and ethnicity issues based on the so-called news and media, especially on the eyes of both CNN and Fox News. 

Moreover, as one of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani students, I was so happy when I had a chance to introduce AUI-S as one of the most prestigious learning institution in Iraq. It was really interesting for the audiences when they heard from me about a university in Iraq that combined students from all the Iraqi provinces without any problems. It was one of the most exciting parts of my speech when I introduced AUI-S as a single home for all the Iraqi students including, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Christians and etc. Furthermore, talking about the so-called problems such as corruption and poverty that were facing the Iraqis over all the Iraqi provinces generally, especially in Kurdistan was another part of my speech that energized my audience in listening to me. The audiences were really enthusiastic to understand more about the political system that Iraq generally, especially Kurdistan had. I was so happy when I got a chance to explain my audience the traditional political system that Kurdistan had for more than twenty years, and the recent political changes that we faced because of the youth movements and demonstrations that were occurred in several parts of Iraq and Kurdistan.

All in all, it is really hard for me to find suitable words to describe how great feeling I had during my speech in the Capitol Hill. All I can say here is that I would love to thank all the people who helped me to be there. I thank MEPI in deep of my heart for providing me such a great opportunity. I would also love to thank those who came up with the idea of opening such a prestigious university like the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani that helped its members to experience one of the best systems of curricular in Iraq that offered several opportunities for its students to have chances to go outside Iraq. I am so grateful toward all the effort that my lovely instructors and professors have provided me so far in teaching me English, as a language that I could achieved several of my dreams that I have been waited for along time.

Finally, below is my entire speech that I presented during the time I had for my presentation and the moments I spent with my audiences in answering their questions.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you briefly today about the state of education and politics in my country. My name is Mahdi Murad, and I am a student at the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani. I will outline three issues – education, poverty, and corruption – that influence the state of Iraq today.

The first is education:

The quality of education is not sufficient for Iraqis to develop both themselves and their country. It is also not sufficient to communicate with other countries. Materials chosen 20 years ago are still used today. These materials focus more on memorizing facts than on forming students’ characters and critical thinking – they do not help them think on their own but instead encourage them to be guided entirely by books. As a result, students have not developed the ability to understand and interpret the material they have to study because it is not challenging.  This has led to slowing the development of Iraq in its human resources, not just physical development in technology and other things, and leave it behind other neighboring countries.

However, we should not forget that the 2003 event, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime, helped to improve the education system in several parts of Iraq. The quality of education rose significantly after 2003.  Several private schools, high schools and universities, were opened that provide a much better and challenging curriculum and system of learning. Iraqi Kurdistan (or the Kurdistan Region) is an autonomous region of Iraq, a province considered to be the safest and most developed region among the Iraqi provinces today. It is the home of the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, one of the best examples of a good environment for Iraqi students to apply a completely American style of education. Students from almost all the Iraqi provinces attend classes together without regard to ethnicity, religion or family background. Due to the relative peace in the region, it has a more developed economy in comparison to other parts of Iraq. All in all, opening such private schools and universities helps not only the students to be familiar with a new education system, but also challenges the government to change their material and do more to keep up with what is happening.

Next is poverty:

This is another challenge that faces a large number of Iraqis today. The rate of poverty in Iraq is 18% and it is increasing. However, the survey is based on The World Factbook of 2009, and the percentage of the population living in poverty could be much higher today.  There are several points contributing this dire situation. The lack of a good system of education is one reason. People who don’t have enough education to compete with others are left behind without jobs.  This has led people abandon education in the early stages of their lives and start doing low-skilled jobs to gain money.  This has led to decrease the rate of educated people and increase the rate of unemployment and people living at subsistence level.

Finally, Political instability and corruption are crucial issues we must address:

Over all the Iraqi provinces, political instability and corruption are the two major problems that have created major obstacles for Iraq to join the global community. There is not a strong relationship between the Iraqi parties and groups to help Iraqi citizens to be escape issues such as poverty, unemployment, and inadequate security. Many people just don’t know where in Iraq is good and safe to work and to live. The political parties and their members provide an environment where people feel both unhappy and unsafe because of the massive amount of corruption apparent almost everywhere. The large number of corrupt Iraqi politicians is a prime contributor to the high rates of unemployment and poverty. Widespread political and civil corruption has restricted people from achieving the basic needs for  productive lives.

Along with education, cleaning up the corruption apparent in almost all walks of Iraqi life, civil and political, is the major challenge facing young Iraqis today. We are in the  US to learn how to take back the country we love and move it forward into the ranks of the world’s productive, democratic nations.

We are grateful for all the help the US has provided us, and we are ready to accept the responsibility of moving our country forward with your continuing support.