海角大神

Each bombing in Baghdad brings a surge of dread, uncertainty, and even guilt to Amal Methboub, a university student in聽Iraq鈥檚 relatively peaceful north.

Many of those explosions target Amal鈥檚 home district of Karrada, where the fourth-year student鈥檚 seven siblings and widowed mother eke out a living.聽

Amal earns remarkably high grades at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) and dreams of law school, but she struggles聽with聽long periods away from her close-knit family 鈥� and the frequent bombings聽that could take them away from her for good.聽

Yet hers is a rare good news story from Iraq 鈥� a victory-in-progress despite chronic political instability that last week's election seems unlikely to end.聽The Monitor has chronicled the impoverished Methboub family . The family鈥檚 saga shows how ordinary Iraqis have coped with the US invasion and the decade of extreme violence that followed.

鈥淚 won鈥檛 say I have adapted to everything; still my heart is there,鈥� says Amal, a Shiite Arab with a shy smile, who wears a headscarf and favors vibrant colors. 鈥淲hen I hear of Karrada explosions, I blame myself and feel guilty. I needed to be there, now that the violence is much worse.鈥�

Amal says she calls home聽almost daily聽to check in, and聽after a blast聽tells the family not to let her youngest brother, Mahmoud, leave the house. Scores of bombings have helped push Iraq's death toll above 3,000 since January.

鈥淣ow especially in Karrada, it鈥檚 just intense. When I call them, they say everything is fine,鈥� says Amal. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know whether they are lying to me. They don鈥檛 want me to worry, but that makes me more anxious.鈥�

From victim to changemaker

Amal and her family have survived car bombs聽and brutal torture of one brother, a聽sister鈥檚 true love,听补苍诲听a broken marriage聽with heavy doses of dark humor and聽a strong聽religious faith聽that helps them accept their fate.

When the Monitor first met this poor Iraqi family聽before the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam聽Hussein,聽we sat on the floor because the furniture had been sold earlier that day to pay for Amal鈥檚 school fees.

More than a decade later, Amal bears the highest expectations聽of her family, which are聽inspired by her hard work, thrift and dedication.聽On a five-year full scholarship to study international studies at AUIS, she overcame many hurdles聽during聽her first year studying聽in Iraq鈥檚 Kurdish region.

The experience has transformed her from a victim struggling to survive to an Iraqi devoted to giving something back. During her winter break, Amal returned to Baghdad and took part in a youth project to end sectarian discrimination, which included a day cleaning the city's streets. She also did volunteer and charity work last summer.聽

鈥淚 know their position more, I was [once] in their shoes, I needed someone,鈥� says Amal, about her motivations聽to work with other poor Iraqis.聽

鈥淵ou should give something back,鈥� says Amal. 鈥淚 need to work, I need to do something for my community, something that鈥檚 really physical, not just a grade on paper. That鈥檚 my goal.鈥�

Classes like those of Prof. Asos Askari, who teaches an introductory law course created at Stanford University, are an initial step. University officials hope Stanford鈥檚 Iraqi Legal Education Initiative will eventually form the basis of a law school 鈥撀爓ith the first聽updated聽legal curriculum in Iraq in decades.

Amal is active in this class, as 20 students discuss how laws are presented to parliament, civil rights and violations, and how most constitutions are, Mr. Askari says, 鈥渁spirational鈥� documents. Amal bypasses the outer ring of seats that most students taking, putting herself closer to the front.聽

Later, Amal and her roommate Nagham Jalal Aloka prepare lunch in their dorm and joke with each other about Amal鈥檚 bomb-riddled district being in the big city 鈥� the 鈥淏everly Hills of Baghdad.鈥� Nagham, they laugh, comes from a 鈥渧illage鈥� near Mosul.

The laughter is a pleasant break for Amal, who otherwise spends her day immersed in challenging academic work. Her聽grade point average聽of 3.3 is so impressive at a university that officials here say does not engage in grade inflation,聽that Nagham says administrators 鈥渢old the whole university鈥� about it.

Amal's family always considered her the brainy one, which is why, at the age of 12, the Monitor聽asked her to write a diary chronicling her experience during the war, publishing it shortly after the US invasion in 2003.

'Kill their spirit'

Amal is flourishing and US troops are gone, but the family 鈥� and Iraq 鈥� are still struggling. Amal's youngest brother Mahmoud, is now 19 and soccer crazy. He plays on a local team that, like other similar teams,聽has been targeted by militants, who have placed explosives on the playing field.

鈥淭hey just want to kill their spirit,鈥� says Amal of the attackers. 鈥淲hen two teams play, each one of them defends his own country, his own community鈥� It teaches them how to protect their society, their neighborhood 鈥撀爄t teaches them to defend, to fight with a courageous spirit.鈥�

Oldest sister Fatima 鈥撀爓hose own education was cut short so she could help her mother with all the children 鈥撀爉arried for love聽in early 2008, but then聽divorced after the marriage turned abusive.

鈥淚 always feel she has this sadness in her heart, she laughs all the time, sometimes all day, but you can feel it 鈥� she鈥檚 sad inside,鈥� says Amal of the once-coquettish Fatima.

There is some good news: Second sister Zainab聽has 鈥渢wo wonderful babies鈥�聽and visits the family most days. Brother Mohammad's baby, Hossein, was born in February,聽making the family house even more crowded. Twin girls Duha and Hibba are enrolled in university courses in Baghdad, with high hopes and expanding educations.

Sacrifices for children

But her mother, Karima Selman Methboub,聽is not well, a result of decades of sacrifice for her children, says Amal, and of the terrible saga that afflicted the oldest son Ali, who was imprisoned and聽tortured for 2-1/2 years. Ali, who started working at 8 or 9 to help feed the family, was finally released without charge and has returned to his job as a security guard at Iraqi electrical installations, but the family's heavy borrowing for bribes will take a decade to pay off.

鈥淭his killed the family as a whole, each of us; Fatima had to sell her [wedding] gold, and my mother. Technically we lost everything,鈥� says Amal, emotion creeping into her voice.聽What she remembers most about Ali is that he was like a 鈥渃hild that everybody loves,鈥� with a pervasive sense of humor and easy laugh.

鈥淚 think we lost Ali. He鈥檚 not the same. He鈥檚 there, but he鈥檚 not there,鈥� says Amal, who only saw her oldest brother four or five times when she was home last summer.

"When you see him like this it breaks something in you, in your soul. 鈥� I can鈥檛 describe it without putting tears in my eyes," she says. 鈥淚 won鈥檛 blame him. We weren鈥檛 there when he was tortured over and over again."