Kuwait Invasion

Name

Feb.22nd .2017

My Grandfather

Between 1990 and 1991 a war took place in Kuwait between Kuwait and Iraq. This war cannot be forgotten to any Kuwaiti citizens. Exactly at 4 am on the second of August 1990, Sadam Hussain the president of Iraq at that time decided to invaded the peace in Kuwait. Nobody was expecting this due to the strong relationship between Kuwait and Iraq. Too many of Kuwaitis citizens at that time, were named under the president of Iraq. The troops came in the early morning. As soon as they entered the country, too many people were killed rendered homeless, jobless and Kuwait’s economy just collapsed. The first step Kuwait’s government did is to transfer the Kuwait Emir at that time (Jabber al ahmed al sobah) to our neighbor in Saudi Arabia. Also too many citizens fled the country seeking for safety.

My grandfather was the simplest person I have ever seen with very simple principles. He was born in 1925 where education was for luxury people at that time so he completed his studies till middle school. At that time the common job was to be ( ghawas ). Ghawas is a very harsh job, where this person had to travel between country to country by the boat, transporting goods and searching for pearls down the sea. He went to india, serelanka and too many other countries. He was really simple person and liked the folklore music very much. This brought him to join the folk band which was called “ borolomba” band. He married my grand mother when she was only 17 and had the first kid when she was 20. He had 3 girls and 4 boys and they were his whole life. All what My grandfather cared about is how to feed the family and survive due to the poverty at that time. In 1985 one of his daughters (fozia) past away due to a cancer in the brain. My grandfather was really depressed after that and he also got a cancer in his pelvic. Until 1990 , when the troops entered the country my grandfather was 65 years old with a cancer so the family decide to stay in the country and face the circumstances. My grand father insisted that the whole family stay in Kuwait and be against Iraqis. He believed that being the country on this time is a national obligation. Even though he was very sick and had a cancer at this time he refused the idea of going out of the country. He stayed at home during the invasion, however he was checking up on the neighbors everyday himself if they need any help. He did not involved in any of the fights due to his medical situation but he was always wanted to go out and take them down.

My Father

my father is the youngest in the family. He was born in 1958 in a city called “ freej soud”. He was born and raised in this city which until today he goes their to visit his old friends and relatives. My father finished his high school with a good GPA but the family could not support him financially at that time too complete his bachelor, so he got a job in the airport. He was really dedicated in his job to the extend that in 1982, one of the daily newspaper wrote a paragraph about my dad’s passion in his job. Folklore music means a lot to him as my grandfather. In 1984 my father decided to complete his undergraduate studies majoring in electrical engineering. It was so hard for him to take this step. Eventually he went in September 1984 to charlotte in the usa .My father stayed their for around 5 years and got his bachelor degree. In 1989 he went back home and got married in the same year.

When the troops entered the country in 1990 my father was just married, and his first child was just born. he was really in a bad situation and the family had no money. even though he was an engineer but at this time there was no place to hire engineers. He decided to open a food truck to raise some money. This idea was very successful and he was able to stabilize the financial situation of the whole family. Two months after the invasion, Iraqies troops came into our house searching for any guns, Kuwaiti flags or picture of the Kuwaiti’s Emir so they destroy it and arrested the owner. My grandfather was very sick and the family was really afraid that the troops will took him. They entered the house suddenly and only my uncle ghazi was in their with my aunt and my grand father. They searched the whole house, but they could not find anything. Then they took my grandfather wallet in which he put a picture of kuwait’s Emir. The troops decided to take my grandfather but my uncle refused and he told them that I will go instead, and let grand father here he has a cancer. My father came home at that day and when he knew about what happened to his brother he went out to search for him. He stayed 5 days out of the house searching all over the place and he could not my uncle. After one week of searching, my father came to home very depressed and hopeless. Since that day nobody has heard any news about my uncle which most likely has been killed.

My father put all his time and effort in the food truck in order to support the family. In his free time he joined other people to clean the street and to transport food and medicine for people who in need of it. And one day when my father was cleaning the street, Iraqis troops stopped by and without questioning they pulled everyone to the police station. My father put in jail for two weeks and nobody knows what happened to him. My family thought that he disappeared as my uncle. He was in the jail torturing and barely sleeping for two weeks only because when he was asked to stop cleaning he said “ my country will always be clean whoever entered it”. After spending two weeks in the jail my dad went back home and the family was very happy to see him back home. He stayed at home, avoiding any problems where he was the family’s nerve who helped them financially.

Everything was stable after that and the family tried to avoid all problems having the food trucks which was the only source of money. And Thankfully in Feb.25 Kuwait was freed and Iraq pulled back their troops. It was such a day where happiness was everywhere. Nobody believed that there is no more invasion. My father took the family and they went out in one car out to see kuwait’s landmarks. At this day everybody was out just celebrating the freedom.

after the invasion my father traveled back to the united states with my mother to complete his graduate studies. Within this period my brother Hamad and me were born in the united states. After spending 3 years there, my father retuned back home and he joined the Kuwait oil company. This was an inflection point in my father’s life. He begun his career there at the time where Kuwait was lacking of Kuwaitis engineers. He got promoted very soon because he was very dedicated to his work. And in 1997 he got a promotion from a company in Switzerland. This time he went their by himself and stayed for 2 years. Within these two years my father was obsessed in the Switzerland culture so he was thinking of an immigration to stay the rest of his life with us in Switzerland. However, my mother totally refused this idea because she was very close with her relatives. My father at this time to be honest was in love with a Swiss girl. He and my mother got divorced and he married the swiss girl and stayed in Switzerland.

Me and my brothers stayed with my mother in Kuwait for 2 years and then we went for a vacation to my father. My father at this time was very successful man. However his all life in Switzerland was all about the work. Me and my brothers tried to convince him to go back to Kuwait and stay with us, but unfortunately he did not come back with us. He had a very successful life there until 2009. In 2009 my father had a very serious car accident and right after his recovery he realized that life is too short and he decided to come to stay with us and bring his swiss wife to Kuwait. He went back to the Kuwait oil company and stayed in Kuwait until today.

My self

I was born and raised in Kuwait for my entire life. I have graduated as an honor student and I got a scholarship immediately to come to the united states. I spent the first 10 years with my mother then in 2004 I went to my aunt house. I spent 5 years with my aunt who was an old very kind women. In 2009 she died and I stayed alone. My life was a little bit harsh where my parents got divorced and I went to another house for 8 years. Nonetheless, my mother was and still my whole life. She is my inspiration and motivation in life.

I was born after the invasion in 1994. However, I have heard a lot of the stories of our relatives’ challenges to protect the country during the invasion. It was really hard for me to know about all of these stories, and how my uncle dispappred suddenly. Also it felt so bad for my family at this time where they were in poverty and I am enjoying everything today. It feels like they have sacrificed for my generation goods.

I am always having the idea of what if I was born back in these years and I always asked myself if I would flee or stay in my country. I think the best answer is I would stay and fight back in country. As I said our grandfathers had seen very terrible days and they had sacrificed for us therefore when it comes to me I would return part of what they did for me by staying in my country during the invasion.