Zainab Naji said she remembers hiding under a staircase during a bombing during the first Gulf War, when she was a 5-year-old child in Baghdad.
She remembers playing with bombshells outside her house, not knowing what they were.
Naji, a fourth-year physiological science student, said her experience growing up in Iraq during war time, as well as her concern for the children in her home country, led her to join three other students in planning a benefit dinner to raise funds and promote education about the Iraqi children’s situation.
The dinner, held Saturday in Ackerman Ballroom, drew about 90 people of diverse national and ethnic backgrounds and raised more than $3,000, which will be donated to Child Aid International.
“Having experienced a war firsthand, (I know that) war is just devastating. It devastates buildings, materials, but also a lot of hope. Kids have gotten used to growing up in war; they don’t know what childhood is,” Naji said.
Combiz Abdolrahimi, a third-year business economics and political science student and one of the organizers of the event, said he believes it is important to educate the UCLA community about Arab-American issues, though he is not Arab himself.
“We are trying to raise awareness to the need for humanitarian assistance in Iraq,” Abdolrahimi said.
In addition to traditional Arabic food, the event included two main speakers ““ Nouri Al Hassani, one of the founders of Child Aid International, and Hassan Hussain, a UCLA doctoral student in Islamic studies. There were also two music performances by the UCLA Near Eastern Ensemble and a performance by TIMZ, a rapper of Iraqi descent.
In his speech, Al Hassani discussed Child Aid International’s work in Iraq, which includes programs to bring money, food and clothing to Iraqi orphans. Al Hassani showed videos of the organization’s offices in Basra and how the donations reach the children.
“(We received) medical equipment donated from Vancouver hospitals. Insha’allah (God willing) that will continue and we will send a second container later this year,” Al Hassani said.
He also discussed the impact seemingly small donations have on the children.
“I am asked all the time if we are able to do something (for the children),” he said. “Yes, we can. We can do a lot. People say $10 is nothing. Here, maybe, but there it can make a big difference in the life of an orphan.”
This sense of hope, even through tough times, was shared by Hussain in his presentation titled “Iraqi diversity, between past and present.” In the presentation, Hussain discussed Iraqi history and the cultural richness of the country.
“There really was a culture of tolerance and respect for one another in Iraq that boggles the mind,” he said.
And when faced with trying times, Hussain said the Iraqi spirit prevails, as Iraqis try to make the best of such trials as displacements, separation and the building of walls between communities.
He reinforced his hopeful message by showing photos of artists painting images evocative of freedom such as boats or wild horses on these dividing walls.
“This gives me hope that the tolerance that is such a characteristic of Iraqi society still remains. That there are ways to bring people back together. I hope this dinner will help a child grow up with hope,” Hussain said.