Remembering Ameer

Native without a Nation honors the memory of one of its favorite Iraqi students, Ameer Mohammed. Ameer, 14, participated in several cross-cultural video sessions with students all over the world. He attended NWN computer literacy sessions and was diligently studying English. In 2006 Ameer and his family came to Damascus to escape the violence in Iraq.

Like the approximately 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, he and his family dreamed of being resettled in another country where Ameer would be able to be a normal kid again. In the meantime, Ameer worked at a local laundry mat to help his family cover their expenses. He was an excellent worker. Ameer dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. His most cherished moments in Syria were when his chins made contact with a football. Like so many Iraqi children, his dream will never come true.

Ameer passed away last week of a health complication. Hours before his death a sweet and jovial Ameer hugged his employer, telling him he was just like family. Ameer passed with his father by his side. He will rest in peace at the Strangers Cemetery in Damascus, Syria. To support Ameer’s family you can send donations to Native without a Nation through Paypal.

Othman Abd Al-Rahman Mohammed

My name is Othman Abd Al-Rahman Mohammad. I am an Iraq pupil and I am proud of being an Iraqi.

Despite the fact that I live in my second country Syria, I love this country so much as well as its generous people.

I love to study in a perfect way. I love my school, my family and my relatives who are away from me due to the cruel circumstances. I also love helping my father with the housework.

NWN update: Mar. 2010

Native without a Nation’s students had a meeting on February 19th 2010. We talked about their problems in schools here where most of the Iraqi students are doing well. They are more intelligent than others. Two of the Iraqi refugee students are going to take part in an intelligence contest. It’s a contest among the schools in the city of Damascus. The big problem is that these students don’t sense stability here, which if anything will change their lives ever after. This thought has been controlling their lives.

The other problem is that they need computers to get information to help them choose what they like to study. For example Noor and Muna want to study art and design. Anfal wants to study sculpturing and Zinab wants to be a singer. They do well with their work but all of that doesn’t exist in the curriculum of their school.

The other part of the meeting was about Noor, Muna and Anfal's participation in the art show. They wanted to say this to their supporters:


Since the first art show we had in Damascus, we felt admiration and encouragement from the audience to continue painting, and talk about the mixtures of colors. We were often asked if we ever went to art schools. The answer always is “ We never studied art, it’s just what we do and like to do. We do express what we feel and we convert it on our paintings.

We benefit from advises and criticism of the visitors, which is helpful to make us continue with our notions in our work.


At the end of the meeting we agreed that we have to be strong and keep getting better.
The last art show was in January 19, 2010 at the Russian cultural center in Damascus where most of the visitors were artists, writers, activists, critics, journalists as well as friends.

We noticed the difference between the first and last art show, our paintings became stronger and more expressive through the subjects and the colors. Every painting had story. Now we are preparing for another art show, with new paintings, new stories, and new style.

We will never stop looking forward. We will never be silent.