May 15, 2001

Mar Addai II, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East.

Day one's schedule found us gathering at the Baghdad Conference Center, a beautiful assembly hall. We sat through many speeches by bishops and patriarchs (dubbed by Marthame the "hat and necklace brigade"), all calling for an end to sanctions, decrying American imperialism, speaking of great religious freedom in Iraq. Palestine's situation was referenced often, either directly or indirectly linked to the situation here. There was also the perfunctory thanking of the President ("May God protect him"), with the perfunctory applause, as Saddam's ubiquitous image looked on. At least, that's what we could gather from the translation. The beautiful hall was wired for earphone translation, but the translators were mediocre at best. It sounded like they would get stumped by the translation and then go out for coffee.

A representative of the Iraqi Mandaean (Sabean) community.

In addition to the "Hat Brigade," there were also welcoming remarks from a Muslim cleric ("If you return home to call for an end to the sanctions, we will thank you. If you don't, we will welcome you.") and from the leader of the Sabaeans, the modern-day followers of John the Baptist, who speak Aramaic and have repeated cleansing/baptism rituals. We were regaled by several choral groups as well, which gave a wonderful opportunity to put the earphones down. Marthame was interviewed by way of a translator for a Baghdad-area newspaper, truly a unique experience. Not sure it'll appear in print anywhere else, though.

Visiting with the Sisters of Mercy in Baghdad.

Seeing how the first part of the day had gone, and that we were to be subject to more poorly-translated speeches, we set off on our own. The Mother Theresa Sisters of Charity in Nablus had asked us to visit their fellow sisters in Baghdad, so we set off to find their convent with two bags of food staples and a Presbyterian minister teaching seminary in Cairo. We arrived at feeding time and lent a hand to the three sisters - all from India - and the nineteen handicapped children. Suddenly, all of the absurdities of the morning session disappeared as we witnessed the true love, joy, and witness taking place in this desolate little corner of Baghdad. The sisters, too, have suffered from the sanctions, but labor on. They had received invitations to attend, but decided that it wasn't worth being away from the children to sit and nod. Perhaps they were right.

Elizabeth takes a bread-baking lesson.

A children’s choir performs.

Traditional dance.

Our view!

We returned to the hotel to sit by the pool (remember - 5 stars), which was a bit of a contrast. Elizabeth got a lesson in traditional Iraqi bread-baking before dinner. After an evening's program of traditional entertainment, including singing and dancing, we once again went to our balcony to enjoy the view. The view! The view!

may01Mudeif Office