Shafaq News – Al-Anbar

In bustling al-Fallujah city, Iraq, inside the “Landscape” amusement park where children’s laughter fills the air, young student Bashir Ahmed stands behind a small box packed with fresh pastries and sweets—baked at home with the loving hands of his mother beside him.

While his peers spend their summer in carefree play, Bashir’s mornings begin with kneading dough and shaping thyme pies, cheese rolls, croissants, and other treats. Often, his mother stays up with him past midnight to finish the day’s work—an act of devotion he carries with pride.

By late afternoon, he walks to the park, his voice rising above the crowd with a cheerful call: “Hot pies, delicious sweets!” There is no trace of shyness—only quiet dignity. “Hard work is necessary,” he reflects, speaking to Shafaq News, “but what matters most is earning in a halal (lawful) way.”

His goal is as practical as it is ambitious: saving for private lessons in his decisive third intermediate year, determined not to weigh on his family’s shoulders. “This year can shape my future,” he says, “and I need every chance to excel.”

Yet his dreams reach far beyond the city’s streets. Fascinated by technology, Bashir spends hours absorbed in online tutorials, teaching himself the basics of programming. He dreams of becoming a cybersecurity expert. “I want to protect people from cybercrimes,” he explains, his eyes bright with determination.

Park visitors, moved by his story, often choose his pastries over the park’s other treats—drawn by both their flavor and the resolve behind them. One customer described him as “polite, hardworking, and destined for a bright future.”

Balancing studies, a humble pastry trade, and a growing passion for coding, Bashir is quietly building something greater than a business. In Iraq’s al-Anbar province, this young baker is crafting more than bread—he is shaping a destiny.