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Songs for terror - Kidz 2 Kidz

Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:00

Sana Mammo gave up her civil engineering career to work with refugees, because of an incident in her own home, in Australia, which drove her to try and make a difference to Iraq. She continues her work in spite of the fact that in April, two of her cousins in Iraq were kidnapped, and killed, for a $21,000 ransom. She spoke at a women's breakfast in Brisbane on April 29.

My childhood (in the 1960s) was beauti­ful. I went to a convent school with Christians, Muslims, Kurdish, Jews. I had wonderful parents-my father was a gynaecologist, my mother was a teacher. Education is something Iraqis believe in-poor or rich. Education is free in Iraq. I lived in a generation of wealth.

One of my sisters is a gynaecologist in the UK, my other sister is a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia-the head of a hospital research centre. My brother-in-law is a cardiologist, the personal doctor of the King of Saudi Arabia. My brother is a dentist in the States (USA). I studied civil engineering.

In the Iraq I remember people respected each other. We had no racial discrimination-churches with crosses on the roof, clubs, women gathered, belly-danced, the Christians accepted the Muslims and vice versa.

My father said he would provide for us, but we must push for our education, because money could be lost, but no one could take that piece of paper from us.

And that is what happened to us. Even our jew­ellery was looted from the bank last year. I don't know where my mother was buried.

I had joined my sisters and my brother overseas to continue our education. I had an opportunity to study in the University of Wales, in Cardiff.

Of course, two months after I left in 1979 Sadam (Hussein) started the war with Iran. My mother was visiting and she left our home-even her wedding ring on the sink-thinking she would be back in a couple of weeks. She never managed to go back.

Twenty-five years down the track Iraq has been through three wars, sanctions-it is a new genera­tion. Iraqi people deny who they are because of all that is happening. My nephew and niece in Saudi Arabia refused to learn the Arabic language because they were ashamed of Iraq-because Sadam was leading us to one war and another. The Iraqi people were isolated. We did not know what was going on outside, because there was no freedom of speech.

I am one of the five million Iraqi professional people who are scattered all around the world. Not by choice. I know how rich our people and our heritage are in Iraq.

When the last war started my little daughter Natalie came down and saw how emotional I became-especially when I saw the looting of the museum and the bombing. She told me that she can't go to school, because the children at school had told her that if the war started Iraqi soldiers would be shooting at Australian soldiers, and they don't want to play with her.

If you deny where you come from you can't be a good citizen in Australia.

I decided I must do something about it. As the war escalated people started promoting the reconstructing of Iraq' and business opportunities. I said if you want to support the reconstruction of Iraq you have got to start with the basics. Support its people. And that is how the Iraqi people will recognise you. Support their humanity. There are chil­dren involved. There are thirteen million children under the age of fourteen.

I wanted to develop this project called Kidz 2 Kidz. The idea was to develop something to link the kids, because the kids need understanding. They hear the parents, they see the media, the cov­erage, and they form their ideas.

We approached three state schools, and we have 220 kids in the choir. We sat with these kids and we asked questions, "If you were an Iraqi kid what would you say? What would you do? How would you help?" All these ideas were written on a huge sheet of paper. The musician took it away and wrote the music, and we produced the CD ‘Kidz 2 Kidz'-for hope and peace from children in Australia to the children of Iraq.

We recorded an Iraqi song, reminding them of who they are, reminding them that the people of Australia and the world are not against them, but with them. Don't give up. There is hope. This is what the CD is about. If we can put a smile on one kid, or two, that is two or three less suicide bomb­ers-because we are giving hope.

I link mainstream Australian kids with refugee kids. The kids who attacked my daughter are singing with her in this project. We have changed their views.

I am passionate about building who we are. For if you deny where you come from you can't be a good citizen in Australia. You have got to be proud of where you come from, regardless of the difficulty.

The money I have raised so far has gone towards the production ($31 000) of the CD.

The CD 'Kidz 2 Kidz' is available by mail from PO Box 801, Sumner Park Qld 4074, or from Dymocks bookstores in Brisbane. Cost $23 includes packing and postage.

Funds raised from the sale of Kidz 2 Kidz' CD will go to a Catholic school in Basra, in the south of Iraq (which has become more stable with the British and now the Australian and the Japanese militia), and to building links between kids in Australia and Iraq. Kidz 2 Kidz is a registered charity and donations are tax deductible.

Source: Songs for terror - Kidz 2 Kidz