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Uprooted

Posted by on April 1, 2015

“My name is Sufyan.
I was born and raised in Baghdad.

I am a refugee from Iraq.”


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Left to Right: Israa, Noor, Sufyan, Aisha

 “I used to work in the US Army, starting May 2003, right after the start of the war. Since my job was working with American forces, some people in my village and in my society knew that I’m working with Americans. This make me in a dangerous position for me and my family so I have to move to another place in Baghdad, relocate myself and my family to another place. Even that wasn’t 100% safe, so I had to leave with my family. I was wishing to take my whole family here to the US because it’s safer for them. The main thing that make me to have this decision is when they kidnapped my brother. One of my brothers had been kidnapped – they thought he was me. Thank God I have him back,  but that’s what made me really think twice about leaving Iraq.”

I [Adia] spoke to Sufyan first. We had called throughout the week, but Friday is the best day for him and I happened to call on a Friday. He did not answer, but he called me back immediately. I thought I recognized the number, but when he began speaking I was incredibly surprised by how well he spoke English and by how little of an accent he carried.

 

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 Its just like taking a flower and replanting in another places. There’s still some kind of roots I still have roots there. I wish I can go and visit and come back here, I think this is safer for my family.”

This is the quote from which we titled our project because it carries much of the feeling that was expressed in this experience. Flowers are also a favorite of Israa’s, and this is evident in the careful way she adorned the ceilings and walls of the living room with decorative vines and lilies. She told us that the way their apartment in Durham is decorated is similar to their house in Iraq, except that in Iraq the plants were all real. 

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“سفيان يكون ابن عمي و ابن خالتي, في أن واحد. هو أقراب من الأقارب. يعني من العائلة”

Sufyan is my cousin. He is one of my relatives. He is from my family.

Talking to Israa was a fulfilling but incredibly difficult experience. One day when we visited, Sufyan was not home yet and so we decided to use our little amounts of Arabic experience to try to interview her. What made the experience so amazing is that she, even though she did not speak our language and we do not speak hers, wanted nothing more than to communicate. The three of us stuttered through ten of the most rewarding minutes of this entire experience, finding ways to communicate however we could.

 

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“For my two daughters Aisha and Noor, they were born in Iraq, and when we came here in 2012 they were only three and four years old. They don’t have too much to remember about Iraq, maybe only their grandpa and grandmothers. Sometimes we do show them pictures of family back home, so they can remember and realize–like this is your uncle, this is your aunt or your grandma from your father’s or mother’s side. It’s a big change for them, yes, because lifestyles is different culture is different, but, like I said, they don’t have a lot of things to remember from back home. That’s why we try to teach them first our language, which we’d like them to keep, and tell them who they are and where they came from.”

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 “…We’ve noticed that she [Noor], that actually both of them now, they are trying to speak English and are using English words more than Arabic language or words, and sometimes I even find my wife, because she doesn’t speak much English, she’ll tell me, “What does this mean? She told me something I don’t know what it is,” and I ask my daughter what she told her mother, and then she’ll say it in English. So I try to explain to my wife what did she say or what did she mean.”

Although we didn’t get to interact much with Aisha (the oldest), Noor was always excited to come say hi to us, show off her dance moves, and pose in our photoshoot. It’s not surprising that she would pick up English quickly and be excited to use it whenever she could. However, we were struck by how quickly she is becoming comfortable with American society. It is interesting how easily children are able to become incorporated into a new community.

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These are some of the possessions that Sufyan brought back with him. The prayer beads called “سبحة (sibha)” in Iraq each have thirty-three beads. The men dance with them in their traditional dances in addition to their customary use.

The pocket watch belonged to Sufyan’s father. Engraved into the pocketwatch is al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the Prophet’s Mosque. He got it in Mecca when he went to Hajj. Sufyan’s father (الله يرحمه) passed away at which time his mother sent him the watch.

 

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“Maybe teachers here they don’t realize, they don’t realize what maybe to start with.”

Sufyan was a middle school English teacher in Iraq. Because he has real world experience with teaching English to Arabic speaking people, he could be a real asset to teachers trying to teach English as a foreign language. However, “…you guys have a saying – give a man a fish, or teach a man to fish – but fishing here is still hard. I’m still waiting for my chance.” Unfortunately at this time, America does not have many opportunities for refugees to utilize their skills to reach their full potentials. This is something that Sufyan talked to us about very often. He is a translator and an English teacher. Israa is a chef. Some of his friends are mechanics. But, it is hard for them to realize their goals either because of unfamiliarity with the language or because the system does not work in their favor.

 

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 “She said, “Even though they cannot speak my language, they see that I wear a scarf and they tell me, ‘Salaam.’ They do not know the full greeting ‘Salaam Aleikum’ but they try to tell me ‘Salaam.’ “

This quote really stood out to us because we were surprised that people in Durham who had no connection to the Arab world or Arabic at all would know to say Salaam. It was incredibly heartwarming and really seemed to be important to Israa as well.


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 “هو يعني بلد جميل و إن شاء الله يعود السلام في بلادنا ونرجع ليه إن شاء الله”

It [Iraq] is a beautiful county, and, God willing, peace will return to our country and we will return to it. God willing.


ABOUT SUFYAN

music-note-1 Sufyan’s favorite song is “Love and Compassion,” the product of a collaboration between Iraqi singer Kazim al-Saher and American Paula Cole.  He told us that he likes any song about uniting people. See the full song here

ncXzynRcB Ahmed Shawqi, an Egyptian poet, is one of Sufyan’s favorites. He recited for us a piece he is particularly fond of.

 

 

“He is explaining that, or describing this life as a filter. We call them gherbal. Al-gherbal is like a circle, and similar to the door screen … it has very, very small holes in it. Back home they put flour and they shake it to get the material off and the debris that gets stuck in it will remain in the gherbal. He is explaining or describing this life like that. He said, “the gherbal is the life and the people are inside it and He is shaking us. It’s very very nice … This life is like the filter and the time is shaking it and the people are all inside … The strongest one and the one who can handle this life will stay on top. But the weak people, the one who cannot handle it, they will fall. Whoever can challenge the life and prove himself , he can stay above that. But those who cannot, they will fall.”

al-quran-al-karem-title-text-md   Sufyan also shared with us his favorite text from the Qu’ran, Al-Ikhlas. Here he is delivering it from memory.

 

 

Surah Absoluteness (Al-Ikhlaas)
Original Text

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.                                 بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Qur’an 112:1  Say: He is Allah, the One!                                                           قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
Qur’an 112:2 Allah, the eternally Besought of all!                                                  اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
Qur’an 112:3 He begetteth not nor was begotten.                                             لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
Qur’an 112:4 And there is none comparable unto Him.                              وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ


Watch a video of the highlights of our encounter with Sufyan’s family below:

 

Authors: Adia Coley and Maria Luisa Frasson

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