Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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FM 100's Jill Atwood ReportingThe bloodshed in Iraq at times overshadows the good that's also happening there. Today, for the first time ever, Iraq has a radio station for women.
Bushra Jamil is no stranger to the microphone, but not here in Utah, in Baghdad. She is the voice of "Iraqi Women" on Radio Al-Mahaba, meaning "love".
Bushra Jamil, Radio Al-Mahaba: "We need to learn more, we need to hear more. There are legal issues, there are health issues, there are everyday daily issues that we want to know about."
Their studio is a far cry from our broadcast facilities here. Their transmitter was recently destroyed by a car bomb, but still it remains a forum for women to express their fears, talk about their families, politics and other social issues.
At the beginning of the war, Bushra was living in Canada, but after watching Saddam Hussein's statue topple, she knew it was time to go home.
Bushra Jamil: "One person said, 'Your place is not politics. You just go home and raise kids and cook. This should be enough for everyone,' but we were determined and we still are determined. If you liberate woman and you support woman in any society, it will benefit the whole society."
Jamil and family are in Salt Lake City trying to raise money for a new transmitter. They are also connecting with local women's groups to raise awareness. Their first stop this morning was to Utah's only all women's station, KUTR.
Bushra Jamil: "Hope is there. All we have to do is carry on don't stop; do not ever stop; we will make it. And we will always say thank you American, thank you American people, because you helped us to be ourselves, helped to have a new life."
Bushra Jamil will be speaking several more times throughout the week in Salt Lake. For more information, check the links at the top right of this story.
