A Cruel Education for Baghdad’s Toughest Teacher

One steadfast school director defied the conventions of Saddam’s iron-fisted rule to create an artistic haven for children—but faced her toughest test after the dictator’s demise.

Photos by Marieke van der Velden

Ayser al-Azzawi lies awake at night during the summer of 2014. Not because her country is in a state of chaos – of course there is that too: in 2014 alone, another 1.9 million Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes; the Islamic State is rapidly conquering the northwest of the country; and Shia militias have taken over the streets of Baghdad. But she lies awake for a different reason: because she has borrowed a million dollars from the bank to build thirty new classrooms. Ever since 2011, she has been receiving phone calls from the Ministry of Education with the friendly but urgent request to accept yet another extra student at her school. The classrooms of her posh private school, the biggest in Baghdad, are now bursting at the seams. She sees no other solution, but the enormity of the loan amidst the insecure situation of her city worries her.

Ayser al-Azzawi, “Mama Ayser” as she likes to be called, speaks with a refined British accent. In the seve…