Free Children of War by Deborah Ellis

can’t work
     here in Jordan, and she doesn’t know how to protect us.
    My stepfather comes over whenever he feels like it. He has a key, of
     course, since he pays the rent. He’ll come inand say,
     “I’m hungry. Go cook for me.” And he said that he’s paid for the
     rent for another few months, and when those months are up, he won’t pay any more,
     and we can sleep on the street.
    One time he stood out in the street in front of the building and yelled up
     terrible things at us, insulting things, using bad, terrible curse words.
    My brother and I are very good students. My mother had to borrow money to
     pay our school fees, and she doesn’t know how she will pay it back, but she says
     our education is the most important thing. Without it we will have no hope. My brother
     is very smart at English and computers. My teacher actually said to my mother,
     “May God bless you for having such a daughter and for bringing her into my
     classroom.”
    So we are all smart people, and should have good futures ahead of us, but
     so much seems to be beyond our control. My mother doesn’t have an independent
     income, and my stepfather is unstable. We are one tantrum away from being thrown out and
     having nowhere to live.
    I guess I would say to American girls my age the same thing I would say to
     any girls anywhere. It’s the same thing my mother says to me. Be strong and
     arrange your life so that you can look after yourself, no matter what. Don’t rely
     on a man, even if you fall in love. The man could die or go crazy, and then where would
     you be?

Abdullah, 13

    Fallujah, a city located not far from Baghdad on the Euphrates
     River, has seen a great deal of fighting that has taken many American and Iraqi
     lives. During battles in 2004, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the city, and
     when they returned, many of their homes had been bombed so badly they were no longer
     fit places to live. There was sewage in the streets from pipes being blown up, no
     electricity or clean water, and no one to bury the corpses that rotted in empty
     buildings.
    During the battles, US forces fired white phosphorus shells at
     insurgents. These shells burst into flame on impact, starting fires that can’t
     be put out with water and causing widespread burn injuries among civilians.
    Abdullah’s father’s family comes
     from Fallujah. He has moved many times since leaving Iraq. His family fled to Jordan
     when they were threatened by the Mehdi Army, a Shia militia.
    We came to Jordan because the Mehdi Army said to my father,
     “We will kill your son and daughter if you don’t leave Iraq.” They
     wanted to kill me because I am Sunni.
    My friends were very good in Iraq. Leaving them was difficult. Their names
     are Athere and Osama. We loved to play football and basketball and go swimming.
    I am in grade seven here in Jordan. All the teachers are good, and the
     other students are also good. No problems.
    Baghdad is beautiful, or it used to be. Any place is beautiful when your
     friends and family are there. I was there during all the bombing. I didn’t like it
     at all, but I was not scared. I was not brave. I was angry. The bombing made me very
     angry. I didn’t know why they were doing this. Why should people be allowed to do
     such things? I don’t understand.
    I saw a lot of American soldiers. They were screaming and doing nothing. I
     mean, they were standing around a lot with their guns, not working. I was a child when
     all this happened. I don’t remember well, because I was in grade one.
    I do remember a bit about our life before the Americans came. We had more
     water and more electricity, and no one was killing other people.
    After the Americans came, one of my friends was killedin the car park of my school. His name was Mohammad. I heard the explosion, and I
     saw the blood, and my friend was killed. I don’t know if it was a