Homeless In Iraq: Adil's Story

It has been about a week since I first noticed this young man; I would see him on my way to work or when we went shopping but I never came close to him. He was always there, day and night, sitting in fetal position on stacked pile of blankets between the electricity cabinet and the garbage container, resting his head on his arms.

At first, I thought he is a worker or a garbage collector and he was sitting here to have a rest, but since I saw him there so many times, I knew there must something wrong. I thought he might be either insane or an alcoholic or he might be an informer (the former regiment used to have many informers like this)!

But he never moved. Or at least I never saw him move until two days ago when I passed him after shopping. I noticed two cats sitting besides him. He seemed so innocent as he was playing with that dirty yellow cat; he looked calm and peaceful and that's when I knew he wasn't insane, an informer or alcoholic: he was just an extremely poor young man who must have experienced terrible things.

I reached home, still thinking about him. The scene couldn't be erased from my mind, with his dirty clothes playing peacefully with that dirty cat…I felt aches in my heart and an urge to do something. I couldn't sleep that night, thinking about him. The feeling of guilt almost killed me because I hadn't helped him today - or the days before. My conscience tortured me because I suspected him.

I opened the drawer where I put my clothes that I rarely wear and begun selecting the best items among them.