HW 33: Podcast

Episode: Challenges at a Girl’s School in Baghdad
Series: Alive in Baghdad
Date Published: May 21, 2007
Link: Challenges at a Girl's School in Baghdad

The general topic of this podcast is going to school and getting an education. They interview a few girls in 8th grade and a few teachers. The girls are asked if the school is near their home, how they get to school, and if they get nervous if there is any kind of explosions throughout their day at school. One girl explained that the school she is attending is far from her school and her parents try to discourage her from going because it is difficult to get to. He insists on going though, and she likes it. She does get nervous when she hears explosions near school though. The podcast is mostly filmed in the girl’s school, and the walls are just plain cement, with what seems to look like peeling white paint. Not very attractive or school looking. They girls each have a desk and most of the girls wear hijabs. The filming in the streets at the beginning made Baghdad look really nice. There was a huge building in the back that was really pretty, and there were trees and apartments.
After watching this podcast a viewer will learn how it feels to be a girl in school in Baghdad, and how it might be difficult to get to school because of American troops, and how some girls are even discouraged from going to school, which is different from America. Usually the footage I see of Iraq is of fighting, explosions, and all the bad things that go on. I’ve never seen a calm setting in Iraq with girls going about their normal day and going to school. The most memorable conversation in this podcast for me was the girl whose parents were trying to convince her not to go to school, and the fact that all these girls love going to school. In America we take our education for granted and most of us don’t even want to be in school, and seeing these girls who strive to come to school, even under the circumstances in Iraq and with their parents telling them to quit it makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to go to school.