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HW40 3 Brothers Sacrifice their teenage years to Help their Family Survive
By pianofanatic | April 14, 2008
Iraqi Teens Work to Help their Families
Alive in Baghdad
October 15, 2007
Visit the video here: http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families/
This video portrayed life in Iraq for teenagers that must work to help support their families. Three brothers describe their daily work schedule and school situation in wartime Iraq. Who appears in this video? Three brothers. The first brother is fifteen years old and has learned the trade of furniture building, the second is fourteen years old and has learned to paint furniture. He is in sixth grade. The third brother is in a college of agriculture and is unemployed. These boys are being robbed of their childhoods because they have to work instead. The third brother’s name is Yousif. Though he does not tell his age, he is in school. He was born with a birth defect, though that isn’t described in detail either. He has dark hair, a large wide nose, thick, dark eyebrows and large ears. He looks to be in his mid-teens. The background of this film is their home and their yard because the boys have to work at home now. The film starts with a view of the yard where the fifteen year old is sanding a piece of furniture. There is a wall surrounding the yard he is in and it is made of stone and cement. A small tree grows from the middle of the far wall stretching towards the light and the floor of the yard is covered in what looks like cement as well. This video portrays the poverty that the Iraq war has brought upon 50 percent of the population. Anyone watching this video will see just how much the war is robbing these boys from education and a normal teenager’s life. The youngest boy is fourteen. He should be in eighth grade, but he is in sixth. This video is alike in its form as all the others that Alive in Baghdad has done. It is in interview form and the people being interviewed rarely smile because of the conditions they must live through each day. How does it compare to other footage of Iraq? The footage I have seen of Iraq has mostly been military, so these interviews are a more personal side of the country that needs to be shown more.
The most memorable part of this video I think was the interview of the fourteen year old when he says he is in sixth grade. He should be further along in his education, but I assume that the war has put a slight damper on that. Now he has to work with his two other brothers to help his family make ends almost meet. The poor child has sacrificed his childhood and education to help his family and all because the United States decided to go to war with his country.
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