BAGHDAD — Muntadhar al-Sharify stood shivering Saturday in Baghdad’s searing heat, a smile on his young face.
The Iraqi boy had just completed a rite of passage known to children around the world — his first swim. But his fun also marked something broader: another small step in Baghdad’s halting progress from violence to more normal life.
Across the city this summer, a handful of parks and pools are opening to the public. Places such as Zawra Park, where three swimming pools opened Saturday after repairs financed by the U.S. military, are drawing crowds of Iraqi families.
“In the last eight or nine months, life has been normal in Zawra,” said Salah al-Mandalawy, the assistant general manager of the park in western Baghdad.
For years, the sectarian violence after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 kept Iraqis inside their houses for fear any trip out the door could be their last.
The U.S. military hopes the recent ebb in violence will allow Iraqis to begin restoring their lives to normal. It’s encouraging the process with projects like the refurbishment of the pools at Zawra, one of the city’s main parks.
Iraqi families now often spend the entire day in the park, al-Mandalawy said. With temperatures regularly more than 100 degrees, the parks provide a much needed respite.
Ten year-old Muntadhar al-Tammimi may not know the reasons for the drop in violence, but there was no hiding his smile Saturday as he stripped off his shirt and jumped into one of Zawra’s pools, still wearing his jeans.
“I feel good!” said al-Tammimi, as he and 10 other children splashed around.
