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Outlook: Competing to Bury Iraq’s War Dead

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Najaf Cemetery in Iraq

30/03/2016 GMT

Competing to Bury Iraq’s War Dead

BBC World Service - Outlook, Competing to Bury Iraq’s War Dead

Jabar Amir is a gravedigger at Wadi Al-Salaam, the world's largest cemetery.

Jabar Amir is a gravedigger at Wadi Al-Salaam, the world's largest cemetery. Also, Iranian artist Reza Derakshani, wrestler Neetu Sarkar, and Tanzanian entrepreneur Sirjeff Dennis

The Wadi Al-Salaam - or Valley of Peace - Cemetery in the Iraqi city of Najaf is one of the holiest places on earth for Shia muslims. It's said to be the largest cemetery in the world - with more than five million bodies buried there. For gravedigger Jabar Muhammad Abdul Amir, the cemetery is also his livelihood. The conflict in Iraq means that business is booming, and he's fighting to protect his patch from many new rivals.

Artist and musician Reza Derakshani grew up in a nomadic family in northeast Iran. He left his country in the early 1980s because he feared for the safety of his family, and worried that the Islamic Revolution would stop him being free as an artist. Today his work is heavily influenced by his early years spent living in huge black tents high up in the mountains of Iran - as well as by Western culture. When he spoke to our reporter Ella-mai Robey, Reza described the effect leaving his home country had on him.

Neetu Sarkar is a 21 year old medal winning wrestler who grew up in a rural part of northern India. Her dreams of sporting success started in her childhood. But her journey to the top has been far from straightforward. 

At the age of 17, Sirjeff Dennis from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania had 50 dollars to his name. But he had a grand plan for his savings - to end malnutrition in his community. Five years later, Sirjeff runs a successful business supplying local people with low cost chickens and vegetables from his farms. 

(Picture credit: Haidar Hamdani/AFP/Getty Images.)

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