Zahra’a
has one sister and two brothers. Her father is dead. She has been
temporarily adopted by a family in Baghdad because her mother
was unable to feed her and care for her appropriately, says the
adoptive mother. The same family also took in her older sister
for four months, before the girl “got too old.”
My parents live on the other side of the road. It’s fun
to live here. I buy things at the shop if they ask me to, and
I do homework. In school I’m in the fourth grade. I like
math.
I don’t remember the soldiers... Oh, there was the noise.
I was afraid when I first saw the Americans because I thought
they were going to kill us. Now I’m not afraid because the
war is over.
Sometimes I go to the market to buy things, like my favorite food,
rice and sauce.
My favorite thing is new clothes. I like it best when people buy
me things.
Sometimes I play with other children, like my best friend, Anoos.
We play with dolls. And I like to watch TV a lot because it’s
beautiful. I like the songs. Kasim Alsahir is my favorite.
When I grow up I want to go home, but not right now. It’s
not fun for me to be home right now. It’s boring.
My memory is when I came to this house and became more white.
Now I don’t have to go out in the hot sun all day, so my
skin is white.
