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VIDEO - Iraq, Baghdad The electricity is the second greatest concern for the Iraqi people after security. Iraqis have suffered from a lack of electricity before the war and have been angry to see it continue after. The excuse most often given by Saddam's regime was the impact of the sanctions and the lack of spare parts. The new Iraqi government blames the security situation and the lack of funding for new electricity providers. Iraqi citizens have developed new ways to provide electricity to support their daily life. Diesel generators become a common piece of equipment to be seen in any neighborhood. You must open a membership with the generator's owner and pay 15,000 Iraqi Dinar, approximately $10,for each ampere used per month. Normally an average house in Baghdad will be allowed to take about 10 to 20 ampere per day. This is barely enough to run the family's fans, refrigerator, and a television. In better circumstances, the diesel generators provide power for 10 hours per day, but many Iraqi families cannot afford this luxury service. Other Iraqis depend on their own gasoline generators, gasoline is approximately $40 US dollars for a full tank. This tank is enough for approximately 5 operating hours, but even getting the fuel for the generators can be a problem. For example, you must wait in a 4 to 5 hour queue at a gas station. Furthermore, the cost of the generator alone ranges between $500 and $1500. Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has repeatedly made statements about the electricity improvements coming soon. However, the Minister of Electricity is considered by many to be one of Iraq's worst comedians due to large number of statements he's given about improving the electricity, yet there have been few major improvements in electricity since 2003. This week Alive in Baghdad brings you various interviews with Iraqis suffering the endless electricity problems in Baghdad. If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts and DVDs to spread the word.

VIDEO - Iraq, Baghdad University professors are considered by many to be the leaders of Iraqi society. The professor was experiencing many dangers, such as death threats, car bombs, and gangs. Despite all these conditions many professors continued going everyday to their universities, transferring education, culture, and inspiration to their students. During the time of the previous regime Regime time suffered under strict budgets and some stopped teaching and began taking jobs such as taxi drivers, shop keepers, or others. After the invasion the salaries given to university professors were increased, but many felt they were not increased enough to match their efforts. Further, the problem of transportation, the heat in the summer, and the lack of security, forced professors to expend even more money than usual. With the help of some NGOs and the assistance of some professors the Iraqi government created the "University Service Law." The main purpose of this new law is to support the professors financially and provide them what they deserve as university professor. The first issue the law fixed, was to increase the compensation university professors receive. The raises ranged between 250 thousand Iraqi Dinar ($200) and 100 thousand Iraqi Dinar (90$) each month. Some professors found these incremental raises to be a joke when compared to the work they do while others believe it to be a good step toward developing the educational system in Iraq. Amar Al-Ha'arya, a professor at Baghdad University told Alive in Baghdad, "The new law is good and bad at the same time. It's good because it can show us a light at the end of the tunnel and it's bad because our salaries are still not enough to make us creative." The cost of life in Iraq in general is quite expensive compared to the university professors' income. Alive in Baghdad brings interviews with some professors commenting on the new law its impact, as well as other issues facing professors today. If you appreciate the insightful content, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts and DVDs to spread the word.

VIDEO - Iraq, Baghdad/Saediya/Adhamiya - The sectarian conflict in Iraq was one of the main problems that has continued to limit stability and security in certain Iraqi provinces. Many people were forced to sell their house and flee to other neighborhoods or to leave Iraq entirely. In other cases they were not able to sell any of their property such as cars or furniture, and had to flee immediately. According to the International Herald Tribune, the highest number of casualties due to violence was in September 2006 when approximately 2600 Iraqis were killed. According to icasualites.org, more than 3300 civilians were killed in this period. At the end of 2006 the Iraqi Minister of Health shocked the world by announcing that 150,000 Iraqis had been killed during the war by October 2006, more than three times previous accepted estimates. Many of the casualties were because of the actions of Al-Qaeda and other Sunni militias or insurgents. On the other hand Shia militias such as the Badr Brigade and others were taking different techniques, for example kidnapping and assassinating Iraqis, and both sides created a great number of refugees and internally-displaced families. Sunni neighborhoods like Adhamiya in Baghdad found themselves hosting Sunni refugees who fled death threats from Shia Areas such as Khalis, Karbala, Najaf, and others. The internally displaced families were desperate to find shelter, some forced to live in tents in camps inside Adhamiya. Some local residents of the neighborhoods donated items like heaters, blankets, and food to help those families. Some families who were lucky were able to make a deal with a Shi'a family who was displaced form Adhamiya, and thereby find a home to shelter them during the worst violence. Shia areas like Sadr City have hosted Shia refugees from Sunni conflict zones like Abu Ghraib, Anbar province, and Falluja specifically. The Sadr movement has provided some of the help for these refugees, like food, blankets, and helping them by sheltering them in properties belonging to the Sadr Movement. Other families in Sadr City decided to host some of the families in their own homes. The common rumors in Baghdad are that the Badr Brigade is kidnapping Iraqi Sunnis, and the Mahdi Army is kidnapping Sunni Iraqi as well. On the Shia side the common belief is that Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Army's main purpose is the removal of all Shia from Iraq and to cut any kind of connection with Iran, and the Iraqi citizens find themselves confused whom to believe, the Iraqi government or a religious militia? Alive in Baghdad brings you interviews with some of those Iraqi who are suffering all those problems everyday.

This week we speak to parents, teachers, and children, about going to school in a conflict.> Video - Iraq, Baghdad/Adhamiya - Over the last five years violence, terrorism, and fundamentalism have a severe impact on the ability of Iraq's children to receive an adequate education. This week Alive in Baghdad's Isam Rasheed speaks with parents, teachers, and children about the issues facing the Iraqi education system. For many, simply the issue of travelling to and from school prevents them from attending their classes regularly. Roads and even schools are often closed for government military operations, or by insurgents or militias opposed to the idea of an unfettered education system. Some neighborhoods have been affected much worse than others. In particular, the impact has differed depending on location and ethnic make-up. For example Shi'a neighborhoods such as Sadr City seem to have felt more influence from fundamentalist militias than general conflict-related violence. Schools in Adhamiya, such as the Adhamiya Primary School visited by Alive in Baghdad, have primarily been affected by raids, street battles, and mortar or rocket attacks. There are similar stories in western Baghdad's Ameriya and Hay Al-Jama'a among others. Violence is not the only issue which limits Iraq's students. Incidences of communicable diseases have skyrocketed. Students with contagious diseases are understandably not permitted to mix with healthy students. The parents of sick students brought their children to school for exams and waited to take them home once they were finished. Other parents wait for their children simply out of fear for their safety. As the 08-09 school year begins, in Adhamiya, parents, teachers, and students are hopeful. Violence and crime appears to have waned in the neighborhood. Life has been stable, and reconstruction has begun. Reconciliation and effective plans for distributing aid and government funds are still absent. Without these, the success of the school year is far from certain. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts and DVDs to spread the word!

Iraq, Baghdad/Adhamiya Iraqi society is quite proud of its different types of architecture and design. Their buildings have evolved and taken different shapes over Iraq's history. In the time of the Babylonian civilization, the City of Babylon was famous for not just its decadence, but also the manner in which the houses and other buildings were constructed. During the era of the Abbasid Dynasty the Caliphs built many sites that are still standing until this moment. Buildings such as Al-Mustansariya university and several mosques like Al-Malwiyah in Samarra, were built by the Abbasids. Certainly some of Iraq's most famous recent architectural marvels are the bizarre monuments built under Saddam Hussein's regime, ending with the unfinished "Great Mosque" whose minarets are shaped like Iraqi Scud missiles. The designs of houses vary widely across Iraq. You will find many different styles, likely there are more architectural styles than ethnic groups! A simple survey will uncover everything from houses made of mud and scrap metal to the most modern home designs. Most houses now share a similar design that is close to common Western designs. There are of course some differences in the way the houses look, and they have a certain Middle-Eastern flair of course. One of the rare architectural designs is called Shanasheel, "the hanging silk." This style of house was first found in the 1800s and early twentieth century. People first popularized this style in the city of Basra. This design depends greatly on wood and colored glass. After it became popular in Basra the design began to be used first in Baghdad and then in most Arabic countries. The Shanasheel design has been especially popular because it helps the house to stay cool in the Summer, while keeping warm in the Winter. Many Iraqi artists began including the Shanasheel design in their artwork, creating a specifically Iraqi traditional style. They included it in paintings or graffiti on the walls around Baghdad. Through this practice the art traveled to Europe and to other places far from Iraq. Due to the age of most of the houses, they are particularly susceptible to damage from bombings and mortar attacks. Because of this, many of the homes are particularly dangerous to live in today, due to a high risk of collapse.