Iraqi refugees

Iraqi Children make art from war

By DANIELLE FURFARO

Times Union, Style Section, 3/19/09

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=781892

The three Iraqi teenage girls show up at the library wearing red and black. The red, they explain, symbolizes the blood of dead Iraqis. The black represents the tears and sadness of their country.

Shahad Jassim, 18, Wead Jassim, 16, and Tethkar Ahmad, 15, are refugees. They fled their war-torn country with their families within the past two years. They fled the scourge of dead bodies in the streets and bombed-out buildings. They fled what they felt would be their own certain deaths.

Now living in Albany, they aim to use art to educate the world about atrocities happening in Iraq and to express their hopes for peace. When they speak about their homeland, they can't help but cry. Their art gives them a voice, and it seems to help. At least a little.

The girls are participating in the Iraqi Children's Art Exchange, an international program based in Northampton, Mass. A collection of murals, created one day last fall by refugee children ranging from preschoolers to teens, will be on exhibit at the Albany Public Library through March 27. A reception for the young artists will be 5 p.m. Monday.

Iraqi Children make art from war By DANIELLE FURFARO

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=781892

The three Iraqi teenage girls show up at the library wearing red and black. The red, they explain, symbolizes the blood of dead Iraqis. The black represents the tears and sadness of their country.

Shahad Jassim, 18, Wead Jassim, 16, and Tethkar Ahmad, 15, are refugees. They fled their war-torn country with their families within the past two years. They fled the scourge of dead bodies in the streets and bombed-out buildings. They fled what they felt would be their own certain deaths.

Now living in Albany, they aim to use art to educate the world about atrocities happening in Iraq and to express their hopes for peace. When they speak about their homeland, they can't help but cry. Their art gives them a voice, and it seems to help. At least a little.

The girls are participating in the Iraqi Children's Art Exchange, an international program based in Northampton, Mass. A collection of murals, created one day last fall by refugee children ranging from preschoolers to teens, will be on exhibit at the Albany Public Library through March 27. A reception for the young artists will be 5 p.m. Monday.