The Mesopotamian plain was part of the Fertile Crescent. Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the area was the birthplace of various civilizations that developed writing, schools, libraries, etc. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Chaldeans, Hittites, Babylonians, Israelites, Phoenicians, Lydians, Assyrians, and Persians established the foundations for future civilizations. Their contributions include: the wheel, glass, the sail, coinage, mathematics, the alphabet, calendars, bronze, iron, monotheism, epic poetry, farming, and irrigation.

The most outstanding achievements were cuneiform writing and the Hammurabi Code of Law. Throughout history, many regions of the world have benefited from the accomplishments of the Mesopotamian civilization.

The glorious achievements have, however, provoked invasions of brutal forces. For thousands of years, the region was seized by Persians, Macedonians, Arabs, Mongolians, Turks, and others, attempting to loot local resources by building up their empires in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. Today, that war-torn area lies in Iraqi territory.


After the war, donations from nations all over the world began to pour into Iraq. However, it is quite perilous to distribute food on the streets because bandits and gangsters rampage through Iraq, where anarchy reigns. It is therefore difficult for the Iraqis, already beset by starvation and disease amidst the ruins, to secure even a bit of comfort.


In March 2003, Iraq was once again attacked by the allied forces, and Baghdad fell into turmoil.

What was the cause for the war? According to US President Bush, it was to stop Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction. Why did Iraq resist? President Saddam Hussein alleged that he could not tolerate the oppression of the children of Allah by the imperialist United States and Britain. The standoff between these two persons sacrificed thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians as well as American and British soldiers.

President Bush announced on May 1 the termination of operations, and the intense fighting that had lasted more than a month finally came to an end.

The Iraqis have endured countless wars and they have been severely humiliated by cruel dictators, so poverty and illness have become normal for the majority to live with. However, most Iraqis would rather reject relief supplies from the United States because they think it is just a devil's trick to choke them with one hand while giving them goods with the other.

To the west of Iraq, the Jordanian government cooperated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Arabian Red Crescent Society to provide humanitarian aid and set up refugee camps in Ar Ruwayshid, near the border. Jordan's royally commissioned Hashemite Charity Organization (HCO) accommodated most of the Iraqi refugees, successfully collected food and medical supplies, and delivered them to Iraq by land transport.

Through the efforts of Chen Chiu-hua, representative of the Tzu Chi liaison office in Jordan, a volunteer team collected some 30 tons of various kinds of food and, with the help of HCO, brought the food into Iraq and distributed it to medical institutions there. The distributed goods, though not large in amount, were significant in meaning.

The humanitarian assistance offered by many countries is far below what is needed in Iraq. Though relief goods have surged in, so-called "Ali Baba" gangsters rampage through Iraq, where anarchy reigns. It is thus quite dangerous to distribute food on the streets. It seems too difficult for the Iraqis, already beset by starvation and disease amidst the ruins, to secure even a little comfort.


When we entered the intensive care unit of a field hospital, everyone's breath froze at the miserable scene. Two little brothers had survived the war, but were seriously wounded when they accidentally detonated an unexploded bomb while playing near their home. Eighty percent of their bodies received third-degree burns; they didn't even have the strength left to cry.


Since no one dared to drive on Iraq's Highway of Death at night, we had to stay overnight at the Jordanian border. The highway had been spared from gunfire because both the defeated and the victors had to use it for retreat or entrance. The night concealed vicious bandits.

It was quite difficult for some 20 trucks to move along the highway because they had to be cautious of the cars driving in the opposite direction. There were numerous American checkpoints along the highway with armed soldiers searching for terrorists, so all cars were exhaustively inspected and passengers were asked to leave their vehicles to be searched. Because of the roadblocks, some impatient drivers would decide to turn back and drive in the reverse direction. The social order in Iraq had totally vanished.

The 550-kilometer [342-mile] highway to Baghdad was littered with the wreckage of tanks, buses, and cars. God knows who's going to clear out the mess. After we entered Baghdad, the astonishing sight of scorched ruins came into view. Scarcely a government building had been spared; everywhere the streets were piled with garbage. Civil services were not working and traffic lights were totally ignored. To cross the streets, one had to rely on luck.

We all felt deeply worried about the prospects for post-war reconstruction when we saw the overwhelming devastation: all the government buildings, except the petroleum ministry and police headquarters, were rubble. According to our observations, even though the United Nations had provided a tremendous amount of relief supplies, distribution would be a big problem because household records had been totally destroyed.

Following the Jordanian rescue convoy, Tzu Chi volunteers arrived at a place 50 kilometers [31 miles] from Baghdad. The Jordanian army had set up a temporary field hospital with 50 sickbeds and equipped with power generators. The Jordanian government had sent all its medical workers there. It was a small but well organized hospital that provided free medical services of various kinds.

The warfare had ended, but not the disaster. When we entered the intensive care unit, everybody's breath froze at the miserable sight. Two little brothers had been brought in two days before. They had survived the gunfire, but they had been seriously wounded when they accidentally detonated an unexploded bomb near their home. Eighty percent of their bodies received third-degree burns, and they didn't even have the strength left to cry. A man next to them had been wounded almost to the same extent, but he smiled that a reporter should tip him for taking his picture.

All of a sudden, there was a cry and Tzu Chi volunteer Chen Chiu-hua rushed in with a boy in his arms. The boy had a big wound on his head, shedding blood mixed with tears and sweat. His father beckoned us to come near. The only word he said to us was, "Bush." Under such circumstances, no one wanted to ask him any more. One Jordanian physician remarked that most seriously wounded children die from blood poisoning.


Originally, Iraqi medical institutions had been capable of providing basic services. After the displacement of the social order, however, all equipment and facilities were totally plundered. There was an extreme shortage of medical supplies.


Luckily enough, we didn't meet Ali Baba on our way. But at 45 degrees Celsius [113 F] under the scorching sun, our relief work was hindered. On May 15, 2003, after a bumpy transit, the Tzu Chi relief goods were delivered to Al Fallujah General Hospital in a suburb of Baghdad. U.S. troops were garrisoned in this area, so we were free to hand out food to the refugees.

Like Al Fallujah, a great majority of Iraqi hospitals had been capable of offering basic services to civilians. After the war, however, the whole country fell into chaos and medical supplies and equipment in the hospitals were looted almost to the last pin. There was an extreme shortage of medicine and surgical devices of all kinds. Because wards had no air conditioners, people in the hospital had to suffer temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius [104 F]. Some women simply lay down on the ground with their children to cool down a little.

We came to a clinic that was normally in charge of vaccinations and disease prevention. By now, the vaccination business had long been curtailed and there was nothing left in the depository. But the staff there still continued to carry out disease prevention and virus examinations. Then we went to a laboratory. The situation there was quite horrifying. People were working without any safety measures. They didn't wear any gloves when testing for AIDS. No glass slides were available, so they used broken porcelain pieces instead.

The Tzu Chi team decided to give most of the relief goods--rice, flour, sugar, beans, oil, tea, food products, and canned vegetables--to the hospital to help the staff, the patients, and their families. It took three Tzu Chi volunteers and ten Iraqi youngsters two hours to unload the whole lot from the truck. Chen, though a muscular athlete, suffered a cramp in his hip while moving the load in the hot climate. The Iraqi youngsters were tall, but they showed signs of malnutrition. Dignity made it hard for them to express themselves, but it was easy to sense that none of the Iraqis wanted to be labeled as a "refugee" for life.

The Tigris River, once known as the cradle of human civilization, nourished abundant land for human beings, but it has been repaid with greed and slaughter. A gunshot rang out nearby. A journalist invited us to see a dead bandit who had just been killed at the corner ahead. We then decided to stay in the hotel and not go anywhere.

On the third night after we arrived in Baghdad, Al Blashad, a Jordanian Tzu Chi volunteer, suffered from persistent diarrhea. He was thought to have contracted acute gastritis. However, it was too dangerous for us to take him to the hospital at night, unless we could ride in a tank.

The curtain of night covered the world. This was the 14th day of Ramadan. The sound of Islamic prayers from central Baghdad penetrated the air, evidence that the war had not interrupted the Muslims' pious rituals.


As the war ended, global attention shifted to Baghdad. However, dusty refugees scattered along the border gradually disappeared from the view of the media.


Having been strained by Palestinian refugees for decades, Jordan's resources were overwhelmed by swarms of refugees from Iraq. It was an unbearable burden for Jordan's already bad economy. It became necessary for the United Nations to begin providing assistance.

Since the war, more and more refugees have fled to the three big camps on the Jordanian-Iraqi border. Most of them are Palestinians, Iranians, and Kurds who once lived in Iraq. While Hussein was in power, he supported those people in his fight against his enemies, Iran and Israel. After Hussein disappeared, these people became the targets of minor Iraqi radicals, and their only choice was to escape.

The refugees live under terrible conditions with coarse food and little medical care. Many children get diarrhea from drinking unsanitary water. Humanitarian groups worldwide have offered basic living necessities and simple medical services, but they are unable to give psychological counseling. What some of the young refugees eagerly yearn for, instead of food, is newspapers or journals. All the clinics in the camps are open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The refugees have to depend on themselves during off hours.

In April 2003, Tzu Chi people built a playground for the children in a refugee camp. Smiles, hardly seen before, began spreading. I remember how one little Iraqi girl revealed her bitter feelings by drawing a picture of bombers destroying her home. She was sad. Occasionally, a plane in the sky would still make her nervous.


Sandstorms, whirling with strong western winds, swept away the Bedouins' tents and flattened the refugee camps along the Jordanian border. The ruthless sands rumbled across Iraqi territory and aggravated the wounds of the suffering people.


Despite the war, Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan have never ceased their relief mission. A great number of Bedouin nomads live in Wadi Finan, an area in southern Jordan. The nomadic tribe was introduced to the concept of "nation" a few decades ago, and since then they have been coerced into abandoning the lifestyle they had led for thousands of years. Wadi Finan is an expanse of natural beauty with ancient Roman ruins and several inviting tourist resorts. However, the turmoil of ongoing warfare in this territory has discouraged most tourists.

May is the sandstorm season in the Middle East. During this most difficult time, Tzu Chi volunteers brought in a full truckload of daily necessities, including "luxury" school supplies for two schools in Fajr.

The sandstorms, whirling with strong western winds, swept away the Bedouins' tents and flattened the refugee camps along the Jordanian border. The ruthless sands rumbled across Iraqi territory and aggravated the wounds of the suffering people.

This reminded me of a poem engraved on a Babylonian wall by an anonymous poet some 5,000 years ago:

Oh! Our goddess,
When will you return to this desperate land?
He pursues me,
And I flee from the shrine like a bird,
He pursues me,
And I flee from the city like a bird,
Alas, my hometown
Is so far, far from me.