Been meeting loads of Iraqi refugee kids

Date 24th Aug 2006
Submitted by Nic Seton on 24 August 2006 - 10:36am

Oct 2007 update
The Iraqi school kids project is finished and had an unexpected happy ending. This year the Jordanian government decreed that all Iraqi kids could go to school for free. So we happily didn't need to continue the program.
There's another group doing similar work who also need financial support:
www.collateralrepairproject.org/SchoolSupplies4Kids.html
SEND US TO SCHOOL
Hello from Amman, Jordan, where we've been filming our new doc for the last three weeks.
Our film features Iraqi refugees - more than 600,000 of them here - so we've been talking to loads of families. The war has caused any number of insurmountable problems - family members killed, others seriously injured, houses destroyed, no work permits, no income - but one problem that does seem solvable is getting their children enrolled in school. Most of the kids we've met haven't been to school since the American/British invasion of their country in 2003. They've just been hanging round getting bored and miserable.
It's not that there's no school for them to go to - just that they can't afford the fees. But one whole year costs only 55 pounds for primary school and 62 for secondary. Seems outrageous that they're suffering so much - even more - for the lack of such a small amount of money. Specially when the US and UK governments spent, what, 200 billion dollars to destroy their country?
Anyhow, we thought you good people out there might like to help out. Anyone with a credit card can sponsor a kid right now, on the following page. The new school year started yesterday, so the sooner we can get the money to them, the sooner they can get back to school.
By the way, the first thing anyone says to us when we mention we're from London is that they heard about the million-strong anti-Iraq war demonstration in 2003. Said it made them feel so much better knowing that the citizens were against the war, even as the bombs rained down. So the march did have a very positive side, even if it didn't feel like it at the time.
Hope you can help.
Franny & Lizzie
Spanner Films
24 August 2006

!! 131 KIDS SPONSORED AND IN SCHOOL !!

Pictures and Report here.
Emails from kids to sponsors here.
List of sponsored kids here.

NAME: Rola
AGE: 15
BEST SUBJECT: English
WANTS TO BE: Engineer
SAYS: "I was top of my school, but I had to leave. I want to learn so I can have a good job."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Akil
AGE: 8
BEST SUBJECT: Reading
WANTS TO BE: Engineer
SAYS: "I was so scared when I saw the American tanks."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Haneene
AGE: 15
BEST SUBJECT: Science
WANTS TO BE: Pharmacist
SAYS: "My father was hurt by the policemen. We came here because it's not safe in Iraq."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Layla
AGE: 11
BEST SUBJECT: Science
WANTS TO BE: Doctor
SAYS: "I wasn't the best or the worst at school, I was in the middle."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Ali
AGE: 10
BEST SUBJECT: Football
WANTS TO BE: Doctor
SAYS: "I want to start learning again."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Ilaf
AGE: 9
BEST SUBJECT: Arabic
WANTS TO BE: Teacher or Doctor
SAYS: "I love studying, I want to go to school."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Mohammed
AGE: 14
BEST SUBJECT: Maths
WANTS TO BE: Doctor
SAYS: "My father was injured when the Americans randomly shot him in his car. I want to go to school with my brothers and sisters."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Ola
AGE: 12
BEST SUBJECT: Maths
WANTS TO BE: Engineer
SAYS: "I want to go to school so I can serve society."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Riahin
AGE: 14
BEST SUBJECT: English
WANTS TO BE: Not sure
SAYS: "I hope that there will be peace in the future and that it will be safe again for children."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Rita
AGE: 14
BEST SUBJECT: Science
WANTS TO BE: Engineer
SAYS: "My grandmother was injured in the war - her hand was hit."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Safa
AGE: 15
BEST SUBJECT: All of them
WANTS TO BE: Not sure
SAYS: "I remember Iraq when it was secure. It was a nice country."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Sarmad
AGE: 12
BEST SUBJECT: Arabic
WANTS TO BE: Pilot
SAYS: "I was injured during the war."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Fatima
AGE: 12
BEST SUBJECT: English & Painting
WANTS TO BE: Journalist
SAYS: "I like school very much because I love learning and getting new information."
SCHOOL FEES: £62

NAME: Bata
AGE: 4
BEST SUBJECT: Painting
WANTS TO BE: Doctor
SAYS: "All I remember from the war is the tanks. They are nice."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Zinab
AGE: 7
BEST SUBJECT: Writing
WANTS TO BE: Teacher
SAYS: "I want to go to school so I can be strong and good."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Waalie
AGE: 11
BEST SUBJECT: Maths
WANTS TO BE: Accountant
SAYS: "I only had one year of school in Iraq before we came here, but I was very clever."
SCHOOL FEES: £55

NAME: Shehad
AGE: 7
BEST SUBJECT: Painting
WANTS TO BE: Doctor
SAYS: "School is very useful for kids to learn writing, reading and get more information. I liked school so much."
SCHOOL FEES: £55