HW 33: Iraqi Podcasts

I recently watched a podcast called "Challenges at a Girls School in Baghdad" from the Alive in Baghdad series. This podcast was published on May 21, 2007. You can view this podcast at http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/05/21/challenges-at-a-girls-school-in-baghdad/. This podcast is about the trouble they are having at a school in Iraq because of the war going on there. They talk to a director of the school, a teacher, and some students at the school. There is one girl that stuck out to me in this podcast. She is an Iraqi girl that is wearing a white headscarf. She talks about hearing explosions near her home and having to have her whole street and she could not get to school. She says she has lost the day's lesson because she couldn't be there. She also talks about how her family is nervous about sending her to school because it is far from her home and she needs to continue to go to school to keep up with her studies and do well. She also says that her family wants her to quit school but she insists on going. She says she could switch to a school closer to home but she is familiar with the school she is at and the teachers that are there. The opening shot is of a schoolyard. There are trees and other buildings behind it. It is bustling full of girls chatting and being together. As they go inside the building looks very old and worn down. There are some decorations and a poster on the wall. The walls are white or grey. The teachers have a blackboard and chalk to teach with. They share their desks with one other girl. There are some girls that wear head scarves in the school and some that don't. A viewer of this podcast might learn what people have to go through on an everyday basis and that women do go to school and they are not confined to the household. This is not what you see on the news. You don't see children getting an education or anything. The buildings do look similar as in broken because of the war. What is most memorable thing about this podcast is that it opened my eyes to see how many girls are in school and want to be there.

Lindsay