An Interview with a teacher who worked in the Marshes

YOURSELF.

How long were you at college before you started teaching?
I was in the Teacher Training Institute for 5 years. I am still studying.

How long did you teach at the school in the Marshes?
Two and a half years. All new teachers from Basra go there.

What subjects did you teach?
Maths, English, history, geography and art.

Are you glad you are finished there?
Yes, most definitely. Let me say, no teacher wants to stay there, it is simply “too dangerous”.
One teacher that I was with, was crying because she did not want to teach there.

Was your home far from the school?
Yes, I travelled four hours every day, two there and two back. We were given a little financial
assistance for transport, but not enough.

SCHOOL

How long was the school day?
Five and a half hours.

Were the classes mixed?
No, first girls would be taught. They would go home, then boys. So the five and a half hours
would be for the one group, and after they went home, five and a half hours for the next group.
Each group has different teachers.

What was the average age of the children you taught?
Twelve to thirteen years.

About how many children in a class?
About fifty nine, maybe more. They would sit three in an old desk in a classroom that had
windows without glass or doors. Some of the children sat on their bags on the floor. There are no
air conditioners in the classroom. Sometimes there are malfunctioning fans.

What are the conditions of the schools like?
In my area the Garamsha tribe was predominant. Their sign was that of the gun. Buildings are
poorly made. Always needed paint. No care is taken of the building.
I also want to add that not far behind my school was an empty field that had many abandoned
cars on it. These were either stolen cars or the cars of people who had been kidnapped. And
many of them were smart cars!

Did you come across corruption in the schools? If yes, in what way?
Well I was moved by the School Inspector because he said:“your life is in danger”. I exposed a lot
of Arabic grammar exam marks that had been changed. When you are told “he has relatives”, it
means someone in the clan will ‘get you’. These people are dangerous. I was moved to Basra.

CHILDREN

Do many children go on to higher grades?
Very few. They just want some basic education and then they go sheep herding. Also selling
vegetables and taking care of the water buffaloes, their most prized possession.

Generally, do children look healthy and well-dressed?
No, they are poorly clothed. Because of intermarriage many children have leukaemia. Many
babies die because of either dog or snake bites, Smallpox and mumps. If babies are born with
abnormalities they are just set aside to die. There are many dead animals about, so the
environment is far from hygienic.

Are children respectful and courteous to teachers and parents?
No, in fact they threaten you. Once one of them spat on my T Shirt. They also easily throw
stones. They do these things if they get a bad report. Once, some of them climbed over the walls
and started threatening us. We responded and said we would call the police. That had a bit of a
calming effect, but they don’t really care about the police.

In teaching the children, did you feel you had the support of the parents?
Well, we had two P.T.A. meetings a year. The women came with bowls on their heads always
ready to sell something. They are dirty. The men are lazy. But I must say the women work hard.
O yes, the parents think nothing of threatening the teachers: “my child must get high marks or we
will kill you”.

The children have different tribal identities. Does this cause trouble among them?
O yes, there are fights all the time.

PARENTS

Are the parents themselves educated and therefore appreciative of schools?
No, they are uneducated. Many are illiterate. I would say the parents probably were educated till
about age 10! The Arabic they speak is very distinctive, they have a unique dialect.

What kind of work do the parents do?
They are basically shepherds. They mostly have little farms. The women sell milk, yoghurt, fish,
etc in the market. Also they come to the homes, but their milk is very dirty.

Was there ever any conflict with parents regarding the children?
Often. They do threaten you. Kidnapping is their main threat. Also boys form themselves into
gangs .and where they get their weapons from, no one knows. But they are well armed and some
of the tribes even have mortars. This is common knowledge.

Are they religious?
No. They are a “crazy” people. They have Sahera ( Arabic for witch doctor) who exercises a lot of
power among them. Their “ minds are so closed…like criminals”. Then you have the SAYYID, the
people who claim that their ancestry goes back to the prophet of Islam. Outwardly they are Shia,
but actually they do what they want to. All in all they are very superstitious.

FINALLY

Is there anything you would like to add that you felt we had overlooked?
Yes, something about marriage. Girls as young as 10 and boys 13/14 will get married.
One boy got married at about age 17 to two sisters! So many babies are born at home and
consequently die!
Also the ladies love tattoos very much. They believe it makes one more beautiful.

Also there is a practice I must tell you about. The Arabic word is fasiliya, which is the practice of a
woman or women being taken for compensation. The woman or women are taken from one tribe
to another tribe to cover some wrongdoing! And believe me she is treated worse than a slave.
She is always called a fasiliya and has no rights what so ever. She is not allowed, in many cases,
to even visit her family in her own tribe. You see during the time of Saddam Hussein a tight rein
was held on the Marsh Arabs. But now they are a law unto themselves. In Iraq, law and order is
just about non-existent at the present time!