The Day I Had to Leave

Where there is peace, there is life and where there is war, there is death. The soul that shows kindness will forever live and the heart that gives love will forever show compassion. I lived my childhood in a country that was at war, and I have always wanted reality to be different from what I lived. Unfortunately, nothing can change what happened in my country, but I believe that someday Iraq will rise again and there will be peace among her people. I wrote a poem that describes how I feel about my Iraq:    

Clouds scattering to leave room to the sun to shine, this is how my Iraq will rise again. An Iraq has never and will never know how to surrender to an enemy who has betrayed him tirelessly. My country, my land of peace, and the forum of nations, your daughters and sons are calling for you to rise, hasten and rise to defeat the enemy without laziness. A numbness is going in my veins over a wounded country who does not know tiredness. A precious Iraq who does not deserve to be wasted by those who do not deserve such a homeland.

If you’ve heard about Iraq, you’ve probably heard about the wars that the country went through. Iraq is where I first opened my eyes, it’s where I was born, it’s where my family’s lived for years. Unfortunately, the country has experienced the worst wars in the last few years. People started fleeing from all the disasters of war and I was one of those people. Luckily, my family had the chance to come to Canada, but it wasn’t easy to get here. I knew the day that I had to leave Iraq would come–it was summer 2016, when I flew with my family to Jordan to pursue a better future. If anyone knows me, they would know that I have many dreams and unfortunately Iraq wasn’t the place where I could pursue them. The moment I entered the plane gate, a bunch of tears started coming from nowhere. I cried and I cried, remembering my friends and the beautiful days and memories that I had in this place where I took my first breath of air. 

The idea to never give up, no matter what, had entered my mind and therefore I promised myself to move forward in life. Enrolling in a school in Jordan seemed impossible at first, because I knew that my family wouldn’t be able to provide everything for me and my siblings. Luckily, we had a chance to go to school for free after months of trying to get enrolled, but it was hard to adapt to my new life. I felt lonely, depressed, and anxious about my future and where I would end up in life. I was very shy, and it was difficult to talk to other students at school—I was even scared to talk to my teachers. I needed someone to understand me, but I couldn’t find that someone. I tried to adapt to the new life I was living, but it seemed nothing was working for me. I therefore didn’t do well in school and I ended up failing the school year, but I didn’t give up! As I promised myself, I fought the demons in my head, and I went back the next year and I finally succeeded.

After 3 years of waiting in Jordan to immigrate, we were finally approved to come to Canada to start a new life. Due to my determination in Jordan and my belief that someday I will be where I want to be, my family and I have finally made it to Canada. The road seemed far and full of turbulence, but faith has always seemed the only answer to keep going. I’m now in school pursuing my OSSD diploma, and hopefully I will get enrolled in a university to study computer engineering. I’m so grateful for my life, and I’m very hopeful about my future. The moral of my story is that every adversity in life comes to make you stronger. Be grateful and believe. Stay hopeful and you will finally defeat difficulties and overcome what you thought it was impossible. Love life and live every day like it is your last and do what you love to do. Take care of the people that you love and do not give up on them, everyone has their own demons and everyone is fighting a battle you might not be aware of. Be kind and help those who need you. The world is full of beautiful things and they are out there waiting for you!