Posted on December 14,2015 by Humans of New York
“Our house in Baghdad was located near a military compound, and the militia officers wanted it for themselves. They sent three men to our house to order us to leave. When my father refused, they mailed us an envelope with bullets inside. My father was working as a library security guard during this time. The militia went to the library and murdered my father’s coworker—thinking it was him. My father became very scared when he heard this. He told us we had to pack all our clothes into bags and leave Iraq immediately. It was the middle of the night. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave my bedroom or my school or my friends. I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye to anyone. Nobody knew we were leaving. When the taxi arrived, I held onto the doorframe and screamed that I wasn’t going. My father pulled me away and told me that we were going to live in a better place. That night we drove to Syria.”
I chose to share this picture because it truely decribes the fear of what it is like living in one of these countries that are at war. In this story, the people that are supposed to protect the citizens of Baghdad instead theaten them to leave their homes. When they don’t, they attempt to murder them. This is unbelieveable as we can never imagine this happening in the United States. This narratives also shows how all of a sudden, you are forced to flee and leave everything behind. The worst part is that this is only one of the many tragedies that happen in these countries that are at war.
I think this post was really powerful and had similar topics within my post. The main topic being the dangers of war. You explain how the people of Baghdad were not only threatened to leave their homes but also risked losing their lives if they did not comply. In my post, the person shown in the photo is smiling. This is because he’s happy to be helping refugees that are fleeing from their dangerous home countries, like the woman in your post that have nothing just like he also had nothing. In that photo, the woman shown is more restricted and reserved reflecting the effects of never knowing if she would be alive the next day whereas the man in my post is more open and joyful since he has made it to safety and has the ability to help others.
This post is similar to my post where the family had to give up their homes in dear of getting killed by the army of their own country. The family had to flee and leave their home because they no longer felt safe. In this post and my post, the pictures are of women. Although in my post the women is crying for having lost her husband, both women are still able to stand strong and share their stories.
This post is very similar to mine in the way that both family are living in fears, whether it is from the citizens of Baghdad or the citizens of Greece. This living in fear just depicts that this is occurring in different countries and not only just one . Different countries with different religions and rulers are going against their citizens , which as a result is leading the citizens to flee for a better life. There is a father and daughter that is shown in my post and as you analyze the picture, you can see that there is fear in their eyes. However, through those fears and pains, the father still tries to smile through these obstacles, perhaps to demonstrate to his daughter that everything will work out fine. As for the daughter, she’s wise beyond her years and already understands the circumstances that she has to live in. For Julius post, the woman is undergoing the same process with the family in my post leaving in fears , but somehow still tries to give half of a smile to the camera. This just shows how both family member are being strong for the other ones so they can continue their journey to a better life.