Ahmed's Diary - Back in Baghdad

Monday, August 10 2009 | Send to a friend

Ahmed's Diary - Back in Baghdad

Ahmed's self portrait

Ahmed Fadaam keeps an audio diary for The Story. In the beginning the diary captured one man's experiences during the war. But it has become much more than that. Listeners have continued to follow Ahmed here to the U.S.  Ahmed came to the states to take a break from the stresses of daily life in Iraq. During his time he relaxed, and worked on his art. But as regular listeners know, Ahmed has gone back to Baghdad, to the city he loves. Today he shares a new audio diary, one that explores his reunion with his family, and the first sight of home.

• Much of the music in this show is by Anouar Brahem
  

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running a business in baghdad

Warka Hamoud

Warka Hamoud started her own construction company in Baghdad after the U.S. invasion. There were many opportunities for a business woman like herself, and the violence of the early years did not deter her. Then, two years ago she was kidnapped for ransom. After her release, Warka sent her two sons to Jordan. Warka stayed behind to run the business, but recently moved to Amman to be with her family. Warka talks with Janet about being a woman in business and living her life in two countries.

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Bankers, Brokers and Bandits: Losing the Bank

Joe Rusnak

All this week we'll be listening back to the special reporting we did around the time of the financial crisis last fall. The series looked at the issue through the eyes of people who've been there.  Joe Rusnak helped found a bank in a small town in Ohio. As he tells host Dick Gordon, it was his baby -- until a financial storm hit. The governor shut down 71 banks, including Joe's. Then out of nowhere, Chase Manhattan contacted Joe to buy his bank on extremely favorable terms. The bank was saved but at the price of losing its soul. This story originally aired on October 14, 2008.

• Listen to other episodes in the original series