SoJ Web Report | Aug. 19, 2008
School of Journalism Director of Experiential Learning and Recruitment Jessica Gall is one of several community columnists at the (Bloomington, Ind.) Herald-Times. Her most recent column is a reflection of her interaction with 15 Iraqi college students who spent more than four weeks this summer in Bloomington as guests of the school. (Posted with permission. Published in the Herald-Times Aug. 15, 2008.) |
| Photo by Ann Schertz |
| Jessica Gall |
But a month with 15 Iraqi college students hosted by the IU School of Journalism as part of the U.S. State Department’s Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program taught me so much more. I listened to Arabic, Kurdish and Assyrian chants and songs and finger snaps. I learned that the concept of timeliness and the meanings of “yes” and “no” vary widely across our cultures.
Upon our first encounter, my colleagues and I noticed designer jeans and a lack of head scarves; this group looked nothing like any Iraqis we had seen in the news. Nobody mentioned to us if he or she was a Sunni or Shiite. Seven of the 15 were Christian, and one was of the Baha’i faith. The first things they asked us, in fluent English, were when they could get online and how soon they could get to the mall. Could they get an iPhone, perhaps?
The group was atypical of Iraq in that a majority of the 15 were Kurdish, a minority population concentrated in the north of Iraq and parts of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Armenia. After years of torture at the hands of Saddam and others, this region, we learned, is reasonably safe now compared with the rest of Iraq, and contains practically no American troops. These students differ in their views on the U.S. presence in their country.
Some did not understand why Americans referred to the military presence as an “occupation” because in the Kurdish region they use the term “liberation.” The students from Baghdad bristled at this comment, despite all acknowledging they were glad Saddam is gone. Americans are not the only ones torn on the issue.
But this program was not about war. It was about moving out of it by creating new leaders.
Toward this end, we moved our Iraqis all around town, around the state and around the country, hoping to show them a different side of America than what they had seen at the military checkpoints, which hold them up for hours in their cars on mangled Iraqi roads, making them sitting ducks for insurgents.
Our group was chronically late, disliked walking and tired easily, so all this movement and constant learning was no easy task.
Yet, with the help of colleagues, friends and community leaders, we were able to give them a taste of everything Hoosier, from limestone, music and sports to French Lick, the Monroe County Fair and the Indiana Statehouse. One student said, “I will never forget the love and hospitality of the Bloomington people.”
In the presence of such Hoosier hospitality, they treated each other likewise with respect, overcoming individual differences in religion and ethnicity to become the best of friends.
For us, teaching others about Indiana, how government works in the United States, leadership by example and freedom of speech was a great reminder of how lucky we all are to be here.
While here, though, differences in culture and expectations foiled some of our grand plans for the students. Surrounded by magnificent restaurants, they always wanted White Castle, Subway or McDonald’s. When faced with the option of going to one of many interesting museums or the Lake Michigan beach in Chicago, they chose sun and sand. I would be furious with them for arriving 30 minutes late for an important meeting, and then melt when they flashed their smiles and told us they loved us. Pure manipulation.
Our group complained to us of aching feet and occasional boredom, but every week when they wrote about their experiences, it was clear how much they were gaining. In the final evaluations one student wrote, “This program was really great. It changed my life forever, I will never forget it. Here I found myself.”
And we found ourselves deeply touched by these future leaders. Tears flowed when it was time to say goodbye. I worry about their safety, especially after seeing one home video with bullets and bombs as the background score. “I hope they all have the dream of how to live life like a normal human being,” a student wrote about his fellow Iraqis. “I hope they are tired of our spoiled, corrupt government and actually try to make some changes and feel for their people. God bless America.”
I now know much more about Iraq than I did a month ago; yet, I still do not think I have a clear view of the complicated situation. I desperately want to take up the students’ invitations and visit their homeland someday. After meeting these young leaders, I have more hope than I did before. God bless Iraq.
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