IRAQ

READ

The book I chose for Iraq is Absent, by Betool Khedairi. It follows the life of Dalal, a young woman who was orphaned at the age of four months and lives in Baghdad with her aunt and her aunt’s husband, who took her in following the deaths of her parents. Life was pretty good for the family until Iraq’s government decided to invade the neighboring country of Kuwait, which led to international condemnation, economic sanctions, and the Gulf War. Now they struggle to make ends meet, since Dalal’s aunt’s husband can no longer work as a tour guide and the family is dependent on the money her aunt makes as a seamstress. They wistfully refer to the good times of the past as the “Days of Plenty.”

The family lives in an apartment building populated by a number of interesting characters: Umm Mazin, a fortune teller who dispenses advice and potions to the women who seek her help; Saad, a hairdresser who gives Dalal a part-time job in his salon; Ilham, who works in a local hospital and suffers from breast cancer; and others.

Dalal developed a type of facial palsy in her early childhood, leaving her with a deformity that would require plastic surgery to correct. The family has money set aside for that purpose, but as their financial situation becomes more dire, Dalal’s aunt’s husband uses the money to buy bees and set up a bee colony instead, thinking the money from the sale of honey will be enough to sustain them. But the family is helpless against forces operating outside their control.

At the end of the book, the author has written a short piece about life in Baghdad and about the effects of war and economic sanctions on her country. The plot and characters of Absent reinforce and amplify this message. Missile strikes leave death and displacement in their wake, but also create a psychological minefield for the survivors to navigate. Economic sanctions cause hunger and homelessness, but they also lead to other types of more permanent loss. For example, at one point, Ilham tells Dalal that she has heard “… large areas of the green belt around the cities have started to disappear. This is because people have been cutting down the trees in order to use the wood as fuel.”

The author laments that “[t]hroughout history, Iraqis have been under the stranglehold of the Ottomans, the British, a local dictator, and now the Americans.” In the pages of Absent, we see how those with no political power learn to survive under increasingly chaotic circumstances.

COOK

Food didn’t play much of a role in Absent, with the Days of Plenty long past. Some nights, Dalal’s family has nothing but potatoes for dinner. At one point, however, Dalal is attending a meeting pertaining to her aunt’s husband’s honeybee business, and she offers the guests “a sweet snack, dates stuffed with nuts and sesame seeds.” So when I found a recipe on the International Vegetarian Union website for Iraqi Date and Nut Cake Gilacgi, it seemed like the perfect choice.

This cake is actually more of a pie, with a flour and Cream of Wheat crust, and a date and walnut filling. The filling was outstanding, but the crust was too dry, too crumbly, and there was way too much of it. I won’t make this recipe again, but I may try to figure out something else to make with the filling part of the recipe.

GIVE

The GlobalGiving website lists several projects in Iraq. Since none were particularly relevant to issues discussed in the book, I chose one providing COVID-19 relief. According to the project description, “Iraq has been hard hit by COVID-19. [Iraqi Children Foundation’s] "Rapid Response Fund" supports urgent action for orphans, street kids, and other vulnerable children and families. Across all projects, ICF has already provided a week's worth of food and hygiene supplies to support 3,000+ kids and family members. Up next: 1) more critical food and hygiene supplies for kids and families; and 2) hiring vulnerable moms (with children to support) to sew thousands of protective face masks.” More information about this project is available at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/iraqi-children-covid-rapid-response-fund/.

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