I was born in 1999 when Iraq was under an economic embargo by the USA. Nothing was allowed into the country. This led to so much hunger and poverty. My dad left when I was little. My mom raised three of us as a single mom during the war with the United States. We had to move from place to place, from city to city. Even when I was little, I always felt a heavy weight on the family. My schooling was the best thing I ever did. I moved from one school to another, but I never failed a class, and I never got into trouble. When I was nine, we moved in with my uncle. His home became my home. My uncle has the toughest personality of anyone I have ever met. He is also the bravest person I know. He is always there for my family and me. He is the rock that we all go to when we need support, from small issues to huge ones. Every day we walked to school. Every day we got the same reminder from my uncle and mom: “Go straight to school and straight home. If someone wants you to get in a car, run away. If someone doesn’t look familiar, run away. Don’t pick up anything from the street a string, pens, phones, batteries. Anything may explode. Even if you don’t see anything attached, it may send a signal that could lead to an explosion.” I remember seeing phones on the road. I stayed as far away as possible and told someone to call the police. These were life lessons. It was a mission to finish the day.

Growing up, I didn’t have any depression or anxiety. I had a happy life. There were money issues, and we slept hungry some nights. Yet we knew we always had people to support us. But I could see my mom was worried; she and my uncle were always having important kitchen conversations, and when one of us passed by, they stopped. I was eleven when I finally asked, “Why do you take everything so seriously?” My mom told me, “We have been through some really hard times, but I am proud that you didn’t realize the struggle we are going through. I’m doing my mission the right way as a mom.” That was the last day of my childhood. I remember my thoughts changing. I started to ask how much we pay, how much we make. I started going to stores and fixing things. At the end of the day, I would hand my mom the 5 bucks I made, and that might be the next day’s dinner. I found an electrician who needed an assistant and started helping him. When I was twelve, I asked my mom if I could work with her. She worked in the Green Zone, cleaning rooms in the American Embassy. I became the youngest person with a badge to enter the Green Zone, and I cleaned air conditioners in the Embassy. I learned how to control my emotions and how to be the guy who is helpful, the person others could rely on.

I also went to the Iraqi hoods. They were very dangerous places. I saw more guns than you’ve seen in an action movie. You would hear a lot about the people there. If you walked in, sometimes you wouldn’t walk back home. But I was so curious to meet and understand these people. They were surprisingly nice to me. We worked together as a family. My uncle raised money to save, while my mom, my brother, and I would work to pay for the daily cost, gas, food, electricity. When I was 14, we were able to buy an apartment and land. Two months later, we got a call from the American Embassy saying we had been accepted to come to the United States.

Even though we have gone through rough days, I am thankful. We learned something from each day. I’m thankful for meeting people, for learning from people. I’m thankful for getting tough. I’m mostly thankful for my uncle and my mom. They are my teachers in life.

© Yousif. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.