Sydney, Australia
1995, age 18
I'm on a bus staring at the ocean as I go over the Harbour Bridge, the sun's reflection on the water is nothing like I have ever seen before. Boats crossing the ocean give me many memories; I look away, and see tall skyscrapers everywhere, buildings towering over me, shadowing me from the sun's bright light. I look up at the beams above and my eyes follow the girders. I can see the Australian flag above me and I know from this moment everything is going to be alright.
Baghdad, Iraq, 1st Gulf War
1991, age 14
An explosion rocked the street, glass shattered everywhere, I was assaulted with a blast of hot smoke, I was blown off my feet and shielded myself as splinters of glass rained over me. My ears were ringing, people were running away full of screams that I could not hear.
iraq
Iraq
English: Sydney Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay,...I could already see bodies along the streets covered with blood and cuts from the debris of the blast.
Immediately my thoughts went to my father, I called for him, but no response. I screamed my loudest but my voice was lost under the other screaming women and children. I saw my father about ten metres away from me, I screamed his name and just as he was turning towards me another explosion erupted from a car bomb. I saw my father slip away from me once again as I flew back into a shop's window, luckily the glass had already been broken from the first bomb. I laid down in a ball sheltering myself crying, hoping this was all a dream, waiting for me to wake up. I was wondering how my country could kill their own people intending to kill the Americans? How could any person want...