Perspective: Post photojournalist Salwan Georges documented a country still in deep pain after decades of conflict. But he found solace in the people he met.
Perspective byAs I sit on a plane on my way to Baghdad, the city where I was born, I can’t help but wonder if I will recognize my country. I was just 8 years old when I left. I’m 32 now and I’ve come back to document how Iraq has changed.
One by one, my family members started to leave, including my grandparents on my father’s side, who had lived with us since I was born. We stayed behind and moved into a smaller, cheaper apartment nearby. This one was close to a housing block that Saddam Hussein had allocated for Palestinian refugees. They were my neighbors and friends. I understood they were escaping difficult circumstances. I never imagined I would become a refugee, too.
So much of Iraq has changed over the years — destroyed, rebuilt, reimagined. But the places I called home are still standing, as if they were waiting for me to say a final goodbye.As I make my way to the Christian cemetery north of Baghdad, the traffic is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced — a reminder that the population of the Iraqi capital has more than doubled since the ’90s. I’m here to visit my cousin and grandfather’s resting place.
As I walk deeper into the cemetery, I see that some graves have been destroyed. It takes hours to find my grandfather’s tomb. What I find breaks my heart. At least I will know I’ve done what I could. Over the next few days, I work with Abu Mohammed to fill the tomb with sand for a proper burial. I have a new sign made with the names of all my dead relatives. I never got to say goodbye to my grandfather, but now I feel I finally have some closure.My final stop, in the western city of Ramadi, is the most important to me. My uncle Saher, who grew up in the United States, was killed here in 2006 while serving as an interpreter with the U.S. Marines.
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