Headed to America!!

Today, Oct 27, 2008 is a special day for two of my Iraqi friends, Omar and Mohammed. They leave on a flight to America to start a new life! I know it's a day of mixed emotions for them. I can't imagine leaving my homeland for what may be the last time. I can't imagine the bad experiences they've had here in Iraq, and I can't imagine the uncertainty that they must feel.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you about these guys. Omar has been working here in the Embassy for as long as I've been here. He appears to be about 25 years old. His "office" space has been in a hallway, in a bit of a cubbyhole under a flight of stairs. He has managed our version of "kinko's", a little space equipped with 4 copy machines. Whenever we need copies, we head down the stairs and sign them in with Omar, and he dutifully makes all our copies. He always greets us with a smile and a friendly nod from across the counter. When he's not busy with copies, we see him studying his Arabic-English Dictionary. He speaks very good English, it's evident that he has studied hard.

Omar lives in Baghdad with his mother and 2 younger brothers. His father is dead, a victim of the violence in Iraq. Every day Omar gets up at 5:30 am so he can report to work in the Embassy at 8:00 am. You see, he has to be very careful as he comes to work, or else he could be targeted by the anti-American insurgents who have killed hundreds of Iraqis who have worked with/for the Americans. Omar, his mother and 2 younger brothers will be leaving for America today, together, to start a new life. He has studied "business administration" in Iraq and hopes to continue those studies in America.

Mohammed has been working in another office where he's been the "jack-of-all-trades". He did everything from wash the cars to repair our computers. Unlike Omar, he's been living in the Green Zone, with a greater degree of safety for several months. He made a sign for me, with my name and title in Arabic and English. It sits proudly on my desk today, and will return home with me in a few weeks.

Both of these young guys head off to America today. I don't know many details, but some agency or non-profit will be waiting for them in the States. I think they are both headed to Atlanta. Their sponsor agency will meet them, and help them get started. I can't imagine how they feel today!! There must be a huge mixture of hope, anticipation, uncertainty and sadness.

It makes me think now of my ancestors who sailed across the ocean to start their new lives in our great land of freedom and promise. America has been a beacon of hope to people from all over the world for centuries. It makes me appreciate, even more, the fact that I am an American.

Baking Bread

These pictures were taken by a friend, and fellow USDA-employee, James Bright.  He was on the outskirts of a town one day at a farm village, and came upon these women baking bread in the traditional way!  Of course, with the daily power outages, baking in the "old way" is almost the only way to bake.

The bread in Iraq is wonderful, and like most breads served in the Middle East, is a traditional style of "flat bread".  In Iraq, the bread is known as "khoubiz" or "khubz".  There are probabluy other variations on the English spelling.  If you google on "arabic flat bread", "lebanese flat bread" or "syrian flat bread", you'll find a recipe.  

The first photo shows a preparation table where several balls of dough are sitting ready to be rolled out and placed in the oven.  On the right side of the photo you can see the finished product!

Look at the second photo, it shows the bread baking in a traditional oven....very unique!!!  The dough is rolled or patted out into a thin, round shape.  Then it is simply "slapped" into the oven and up on the near-vertical oven wall!!!  It's left there for just a few minutes, probably around 5 minutes, and it's ready to go!!!  These traditional ovens use wood or charcoal for building the fire.  I understand that many are fired with propane.

This bread is wonderful and chewy with a great taste!  We all look forward to the opportunity to get some authentic Iraqi flat bread.  

Chicken Feed

One of the constraints on Iraqi agriculture is a source of high-quality animal feeds.  Iraq does not come anywhere close to producing enough feedstock for their domestic needs.  Yields are low, feed values are low......this makes it difficult to produce a high quality meat product for the Iraqi consumer.

One of our ag advisors is a poultry specialist, very knowledgeable about all aspects of poultry management.  Part of his effort has involved helping the Iraqi farmers import high-protein feedstocks to increase their efficiency in growing chickens.  

These pictures are of a typical feedmill in Iraq.  They are labor-intensive, which is probably a good thing since it provides employment for some number of men.  Much of the operation is still manual, such as shoveling ingredients into the hopper, bagging and transporting.  I suspect these guys are plenty tired when they finish their day!!

Terrorists??? Al Qaeda???

Just kidding!!!  As I took this photo, I was thinking that it could easily be mistaken for some kind of explosion, maybe from a mortar or rocket attack.  It wasn't!

This is the site of a poultry slaughter/processing facility under construction in Anbar Province. These guys are the roofing crew working to melt the tar that will be used in construction of the roof.  I think they were using old tires to fuel the flames under the big tank holding some molten tar.

We (USDA) have supported this project with financial support as well as technical advice.  Much of the food supply in Iraq now is processed in very un-hygenic conditions.   Livestock are slaughtered and processed on bare ground, in places without even running water, and no refrigeration!  Meat may hang in the open environment for hours and hours.....even more.  Can you imagine purchasing a roast that is covered with flies, and the temperature is 120 degrees?  I once saw a small truck, just a pickup, with a load of dead fish in the bed of the truck.  The fish appeared to have been dead for at least a few days.  The farmer had them covered with a tarp, but the flies were buzzing all around!  I don't think the fish were sanitary in any stretch of the imagination!

When completed, this facility will provide a hygenic location where Iraqi-grown poultry is processed under clean conditions, with water and refrigeration.  They'll be quick-chilled, packaged and shipped via refrigerated truck to the nearest city.  

Chicken Projects

This is another shot from the poultry project that is underway. It's one of the many poultry programs that are quickly changing the poultry industry in Iraq. The first picture is the feed mill which is described in another blog entry, while the second shot shows an incubator. The eggs in the incubator were shipped in from Europe, the nearest source of the latest and greatest chicken genetics!! A total of 175,000 fertilized eggs arrived in this shipment. These eggs, and the resulting chickens, will form the foundation of the new poultry industry in Iraq.

In other locations, our agricultural advisors are rebuilding the poultry industry on a much smaller scale. They have purchased a few thousand baby chicks and distributed them, a few at a time, to rural Iraqi families. They are providing supplies to build a small chicken coop, and a few chickens. Just this small assistance will help to provide food to an Iraqi family. According to the latest statistics, Iraq is currently producing 15% of the poultry products (eggs and meat) that are consumed. There is a huge demand, these kinds of projects are helping to incrrease the supply.