Jamila: an Iraqi mother's battle to feed her children
Shafaq News/ Despite gradual improvements in the living standards ofmany Iraqi families over the past two decades, a significant portion of thepopulation continues to struggle below the poverty line. Some families,however, find themselves in a far more dire situation, surviving on the marginsof society with little to no access to necessities.
One such family is that of Jamila Ahmed Saeed, a mother of three livingin Kirkuk. Jamila and her two daughters and one son, none of whom have everattended school, have found refuge in a small, makeshift home within agovernment building.
Morning Routine
The 57-year-old mother has a daily ritual that few would envy: she wakesbefore dawn to sift through mountains of garbage at the city's landfill. Armedwith little more than a pair of gloves and a small cart, Jamila and her youngson, Mohammed, spend hours searching for anything of value among the discardedwaste.
"We come here every day before the others," Jamila told ShafaqNews Agency. "We search for anything we can sell, like glass bottles,metal, and plastic. We collect as much as we can carry and bring it back hometo sort."
The family's meager income comes entirely from selling the recyclablesthey collect. Even bread, often discarded as waste, is a valuable commodity forJamila. "We gather the bread and leave it in the sun to dry," sheexplained. "Then we sell it all by weight, along with the other materialswe collect."
Saeed and her son often find themselves in a race against time, rushingto secure the most valuable items before others claim them. The physical dangeris constant, with the risk of injury from sharp objects and unstable piles ofgarbage.
"The struggle is real," Saeed said. "There are manyothers like us, fighting over the same scraps. Those with motorcycles, or'stoutat' as we call them, have an advantage. They can collect more and get tothe best spots first."
Despite the harsh conditions and the stigma associated with their work,Jamila said she is proud and independent. She rejects charity, insisting thatshe prefers to provide for her family through her own labor. "Life ishard," she said, "but I'm a strong Iraqi woman. I won't beg forfood."
Raising A Family
"It's not as simple as people think," she said. "We walklong distances searching for anything of value in the trash. In the summer,we're scorched by the sun, and in the winter, we're drenched in rain andshivering from the cold. But that's life."
"My life is dedicated to raising my children," Saeedcontinued. "That's why I don't mind the hardships, even though we onlymake between 10,000 and 20,000 Iraqi dinars a day at best. I'm a single motherwith no one else to rely on."
"Umm Mohammed [Mother of Mohammed] lives in a small, illegallybuilt house on government land in the Hajj?j neighborhood," Mustafa, aneighbor of Saeed's, told Shafaq News Agency. "The neighbors try to helpher whenever they can."
"Nonetheless, she is a model of a woman who fights against all oddsto provide for her children. She leaves at dawn and doesn't return until theafternoon, pulling her cart filled with food for her three children," heelaborated.
Sami Shahab, a fellow scavenger, explained to Shafaq News Agency,"Those of us who know Umm Mohammed's story avoid the territory she goes toout of sympathy. We leave those places for her to help her support herchildren."
He added, "We know Jamila, and she deserves help. She goes tospecific dump sites in specific neighborhoods, and that's why we're forbiddenfrom going near her territory. We know her situation, and we leave thosescavenging spots for her."
