Iraq back into the headlines because of horrific attacks to a Catholic church in Baghdad that killed 58 people. This is another event which further stretches the American-Iraqi relations, and which, in my opinion, again suggesting the need for more opportunities for exchange and interaction between the two countries.
In the summer of 2005, when the voices of cannon fodder and broken glass formations throughout Iraq, I took some guitar from my home in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, and sell it, so I can make a CD of healing. When the money runs out, I use most of my retirement savings and help from the government checks George W. Bush to finish the CD, which was launched in autumn 2008.
As the war dragged on in 2005, I became desperate about the goals of our country in the Middle East. That's when I decided to make a statement, and I want this statement as a positive message.
My statement was titled "A Call to Heal", a music CD that I created along with the Grammy winning musician Iraq, Rahim AlHaj, and a host of famous musicians from Charlottesville. This group became known as the Baghdad Rain Project. Until now we have hundreds of pieces of CD were donated to various nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit organizations working in or with the Middle East. This CD is our way to say "thank you" to those who seek peace in the region, but we also want to give them a real example of an American and an Iraqi who bridge the cultural divisions and work together positively and constructively.
At first I wanted to work with as many Iraqi musicians, but I realize that there are only a handful of Iraqi musicians in the United States. Then I read a story in the local newspaper about a skilled Iraqi oud (musical instrument like a guitar), named AlHaj. I had written to ask about the possibility of working together. A few weeks later we met at a small recording studio and became friends since then.
Like many people in exile, AlHaj have incredible story: he people who have artistic talent, who studied at the Institute of Music in Baghdad under the tutelage of legendary musician Munir Bashir. AlHaj is a political prisoner during Saddam Hussein's regime. He left Iraq during the first Gulf War, but the Iraqi border guards forced him to leave her beloved oud at the Jordanian border.
AlHaj finally received asylum in the United States and lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, because it reminded him of his homeland. AlHaj returned to Iraq in 2004 for a state visit family and friends, and lose the spirit that saw increase in sectarian violence and severe damage to infrastructure country.
AlHaj most concern are the children of Iraq. When she traveled in Iraq, he asked the young people he meets about their dreams for the future and repeatedly told that they no longer had dreams. The existence of the country where children do not have a dream made me think more deeply about the psychological impact of war, which inspired the two most important song on this CD: When I Leave This Place and The War In My Head.
Civilians and soldiers who experienced the war have to live with the shadow and emotions about their life-long war. They can never really leave the place, though the battle was over.
Since making this CD, I brought my interest in the Middle East into the world of academia. I am an International Advisor at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas and I am currently exploring the history of the Middle East. Although there is still violence in Baghdad, I plan on doing my first visit to Iraq in the summer of 2011.
Going to Iraq would complete my adventure. I started the "journey" was five years ago in the hope of building bridges of understanding between Americans and Iraqis. Now is the time for me to cross the bridge.
In the summer of 2005, when the voices of cannon fodder and broken glass formations throughout Iraq, I took some guitar from my home in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, and sell it, so I can make a CD of healing. When the money runs out, I use most of my retirement savings and help from the government checks George W. Bush to finish the CD, which was launched in autumn 2008.
As the war dragged on in 2005, I became desperate about the goals of our country in the Middle East. That's when I decided to make a statement, and I want this statement as a positive message.
My statement was titled "A Call to Heal", a music CD that I created along with the Grammy winning musician Iraq, Rahim AlHaj, and a host of famous musicians from Charlottesville. This group became known as the Baghdad Rain Project. Until now we have hundreds of pieces of CD were donated to various nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit organizations working in or with the Middle East. This CD is our way to say "thank you" to those who seek peace in the region, but we also want to give them a real example of an American and an Iraqi who bridge the cultural divisions and work together positively and constructively.
At first I wanted to work with as many Iraqi musicians, but I realize that there are only a handful of Iraqi musicians in the United States. Then I read a story in the local newspaper about a skilled Iraqi oud (musical instrument like a guitar), named AlHaj. I had written to ask about the possibility of working together. A few weeks later we met at a small recording studio and became friends since then.
Like many people in exile, AlHaj have incredible story: he people who have artistic talent, who studied at the Institute of Music in Baghdad under the tutelage of legendary musician Munir Bashir. AlHaj is a political prisoner during Saddam Hussein's regime. He left Iraq during the first Gulf War, but the Iraqi border guards forced him to leave her beloved oud at the Jordanian border.
AlHaj finally received asylum in the United States and lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, because it reminded him of his homeland. AlHaj returned to Iraq in 2004 for a state visit family and friends, and lose the spirit that saw increase in sectarian violence and severe damage to infrastructure country.
AlHaj most concern are the children of Iraq. When she traveled in Iraq, he asked the young people he meets about their dreams for the future and repeatedly told that they no longer had dreams. The existence of the country where children do not have a dream made me think more deeply about the psychological impact of war, which inspired the two most important song on this CD: When I Leave This Place and The War In My Head.
Civilians and soldiers who experienced the war have to live with the shadow and emotions about their life-long war. They can never really leave the place, though the battle was over.
Since making this CD, I brought my interest in the Middle East into the world of academia. I am an International Advisor at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas and I am currently exploring the history of the Middle East. Although there is still violence in Baghdad, I plan on doing my first visit to Iraq in the summer of 2011.
Going to Iraq would complete my adventure. I started the "journey" was five years ago in the hope of building bridges of understanding between Americans and Iraqis. Now is the time for me to cross the bridge.
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