XUNICEF Quarterly June 2021

A Story of Bondings and Friendships

by Zeba Bukhari

I was privileged to join UNICEF Iraq at the turning point in the history of the country. It was the start of the emergency programme under the leadership of Dr. Gianni Murzi. The number of programme, budget and office staff had increased several folds to address major changes in the situation, the number of missions and temporary staff had grown, funding records became cumbersome to maintain (GFSS days!), staff morale was often low and deadlines were far too many.

Since I was coordinating the programme team, I was tasked to oversee the revision or rather re-write of the Situation Analysis. We were in the learning mode, even those who knew the country well. Changes in the programme environment were massive and happened overnight; we constantly debated and discussed implications for the lives of children and women. Inflation was rampant and many basic supplies became scarce. The Situation Analysis document was a challenging task. We had stepped on a very rich learning ground, both professionally and personally. When I look back at that time, I can count the names of many people who left an impact on me and my work. The office had a brilliant team, UN agencies worked well together, and there were intellectually strong and very competent counterparts. Many colleagues and friends in the UNICEF family were my gurus, but today I choose to look at personal friends, outside of the official circle, who left an indelible mark on my mind and from whom I learned many lessons of life.

I opted to join Arabic language classes. A home (hotel) tutor was arranged and days of hard work began for me and my teacher Ustad Shanshool. He would come thrice a week to teach me classical Arabic. I remain grateful to this day to Ustad Shanshool for his efforts to help me acquire the right accent. I learnt quite a lot about culture and traditions from him. Later on, I picked up more commonly spoken Arabic from practicing in the souk, despite making mistakes of grammar and accent.

I took music lessons for a few months on the Oudh. My music teacher was the Head of the Music Department of the University. He knew no English which gave me a chance to learn Arabic from him as well! This was initially very tough, as I had no background in playing any musical instrument. The teacher was a very gentle soul and dealt patiently with my slow progress.

Soha, my very charming cooking teacher introduced me to Iraqi food. I could never cook as well as she did and thoroughly enjoyed the food she prepared to demonstrate. This was the best part of the cooking lessons and my favorite food was Dolma. I made many excuses for repeated demonstrations of Dolma. Soha also did coffee cup reading for fun and made many predictions about my travels, messages coming from family, new additions in the circle of friends, delays in meeting a work goal and so on. Each one came out to be true with time. I pretended to possess the art of coffee cup reading and practiced it on many others for years to come.

One of my most cherished bonds was with Um Talal, an elderly lady who had moved back from Kuwait. We lived in Al Hamra hotel in Baghdad and started with brief interactions in the hotel lobby. I got to know Um Talals’ entire family after she adopted me as her daughter. She used to provide me with delicious food, and her warm and mother-like personality was a great blessing for me in those days away from home. We kept close and frequent contact until she passed away some 15 years later.

There were many others who became a part of my huge, extended family. It was amazing how friendly and composed most people were, despite going through very difficult times. Here are a few pictures of those beautiful days.

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