Erbil: The host city of sports t ournaments - Kurdish Globe

The Kurdish Globe No. 276, Saturday, October 09, 2010 6
Rosary sales continue under cardboard shade
Lean-to’s serve as cover
for sellers of prayer beads
With the
temporary closure of
Suleimaniya’s Great
Mosque, rosary
vendors take to the
opposite side of the
street to hawk their
wares.
After the demolition of the
outside walls of the Great
Mosque for renovation purpe
poses, rosary sellers in Sule
leimaniya have built small
huts on the adjacent street
curb near the mosque to
keep their businesses goie
ing.
Normally the sellers stand
near the main gate of the
mosque holding rosaries or
scattering them on a sheet
on the sidewalk. But since
the start of renovation, the
mosque has been sealed off
with corrugated-iron barrie
ers, forcing rosary sellers to
do their selling elsewhere.
Centered in Suleimaniye
ya’s city center, the Great
Mosque--the oldest mosque
in the city--welcomes thouse
sands of visitors daily.
Renovation is scheduled
for completion in June
2011, which is when the
mosque is expected to reoe
open. “We do not sell as
much as we used to. Some
of our customers were tourie
ists visiting the shrines in
the mosque,” said Karim
Penjweni, 80, selling rosare
ries under a small hut.
Sharif Mahmud, 70, has
been in the business for
about eight years. His hut,
he said, “does not protect
me from hot or cold weathe
er…neither does it protect
me from dust on the street.”
His hut was just a little
more than a square meter
long and a meter high, built
of cardboard tightened to
the street barrier on one
side and the corrugated
iron barriers behind him on
the other side, covered with
plastic sheeting.
“Now people cannot wait
too long to see what we have
for sale. We were doing
better when we were standie
ing free, near the gate of the
mosque,” added Mahmood.
He explained that because
of the location of the huts
right on the street, where
lots of cars and push-carts
pass by, people don’t stand
GLOBE PHOTO/Salam Abdulqadir
An elderly rosary vendor relaxes in his workplace in downtown Suleimaniya.
around and browse as long
as they used to.
“Sometimes cars park too
close to us. We get their
heat; it is so infuriating,” he
noted.
Penjweni complained
about his space as well,
saying he feels “uneasy”
under his cardboard. He
mentioned that business has
declined since he moved
his location.
Mahmud mentioned that
sometimes he sells no more
than two rosaries a day.
“The money I make from
this is not enough to even
buy my water.” Like many
other people in the market,
Mahmud buys bottled wate
ter for drinking.
Playing with rosary, or
prayer beads, while speakie
ing, sitting, or walking is
common among Kurds.
Even leaders are seen somete
times in press conferences
with prayer beads in their
hands. Young people wear
the beads on their necks for
beauty. Mahmud said that
women often visit, looking
for nice rosaries.
Originally, prayer beads
were--and are still--used
for counting prayers. Musle
lims mention the name of
God and praise him with a
number of prayers, using
beads instead of fingers to
count them. A normal rosare
ry has 101 beads. But there
are longer and shorter ones.
The number comes from an
Islamic tradition that a singe
gle prayer is to be repeated
a hundred times. There are
five main prayers, and thus
a reciter finishes one prayer
by completing a round.
Rosaries range from
US$2 to around US$100
in Suleimaniya. The price
is determined by the rarene
ness, quality, and beauty
of the beads. And they are
homemade. “We buy rosare
ries made in different areas
in Kurdistan like Qaradagh,
and then we sell them rete
tail,” Penjweni said. Under
his hut, Mahmud rested
his back on a pile of little
sacks, saying he is fine with
business the way it is. “God
will not let me down.”
Salam
Abdulqadir
Suleimaniya
salam.abdulrahm
man@gmail.com
GLOBE PHOTO/Duraid Salman
Boys collect recyclables from garbage in a Baghdad neighborhood.
Toxic reactions
and other consumer
health issues are
results of household
products made
from Baghdad’s
recycled garbage.
Children and youths note
ticeably move in between
garbage piles in Baghdad
city, picking up recyclable
metals and plastics to sell
to factories. With the help
of his donkey and carriage
loaded with bags filled
with metal cans, Wisam
Hassan, 21, sifts through
several garbage places eve
ery day. He holds a stick
with which he turns over
trash, seeking cans and
anything made of copper,
aluminum, or plastic.
“I owe my faithful donke
key. Without it I would be
exhausted. And it never
complains,” said Hassan,
waving his hand to swat
away mosquitoes. “This
is the source of my living
and I cannot find a better
job” because of lack of job
opportunities in the city
and he knows no professe
sion, said Hassan.
But he can earn 15,000
to 40,000 Iraqi dinars depe
pending on the quantity
of the collected metals.
Many people have taken
to doing this job. On the
same garbage Hassan
was searching, a boy of
about 10 looked happy as
Living on garbage
Factories in Baghdad produce unhealthy
materials recycled from trash
he carted off a car radiate
tor (part of which is coppe
per) he found. “This looks
heavy. It sells well and is
copper,” shouted the boy.
Thanks to the garbage
seekers, recycling has also
been revived. Factories
locally known as Kurat
receive recyclable trash
to dissolve and turn into
plastic bags, pots, among
other things. But the proce
cess of collecting, dissolvie
ing, and remaking continue
uously circles away from
sanitary observations.
The products of the small
factory, which depend on
trash as raw material, are
dangerous to consumer
health, commented Dr.
As’ad Sameer, from Baghde
dad. The plastic products
stink and the metal pots
change color because
of oxidation operations.
Ahmed Muhan, a chemiste
try expert, warns that such
products either must pass
through necessary tests for
quality control or they will
cause toxicities. “Recyce
cling metal never should
be done in a random ope
eration. Many of such
products have the ability
to interact with foods that
are acidic…then they will
become like time bombs
in consumers’ stomachs,”
Muhan explained. Plastic
bags made out of recycled
plastic are easy examples
to test, he added. For exae
ample, by putting hot
bread in such a bag, it can
cause melting of the nylon
and toxic materials are
then emitted.
But owners of the recyce
cling factories defy the
warning and defend their
products as clean. Sales
are good and complaints
are few, they say. They
also deny using trash as
raw material. Qais Faisal
owns a factory that makes
plastic and aluminum
products in Baghdad.
They import raw material
and aluminum plates for
their factory and somete
times mix them with rece
cycled materials so as to
sell them cheaper. The
local products are “excelle
lent and better quality than
the imported ones,” said
Muneer Qassim, praising
his own factory.
Salman Haitham has his
doubts, however. “Where
does all the material
picked up from the trash
go to?” he asked, questionie
ing the supposed healthy
conditions of local produe
ucts. Based on a doctor’s
advice, Haitham recently
decided to change all the
pots in his house after
one of his children tested
positive for toxins. He expe
plained that the pots in his
house had turned black.
Duraid Salman
Baghdad
duraedabrahem
@yahoo.com