Portland Oregon: Initial Outreach Letter
November 13th, 2007 |This is an outreach message the new Portland, Oregon chapter is passing around in order to secure help from the broader community.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We are writing to offer you a role in an important and very meaningful humanitarian project. Possibly you share our varied emotions about the U.S. occupation and war in Iraq — grief, outrage, and hopelessness. We recently learned of a project that felt very compelling for us — as a way to organize something good and hopeful in response to the killing and destruction carried out in our name in Iraq.
We would like to create a project here in the Portland area with the organization called No More Victims. No More Victims (NMV) is an American group that has developed a way to address the unfair burden children are bearing in the brutal Iraq war. They identify specific children who have been injured by the war, and help local communities here organize to aid the children and their families. Participation can happen in several ways:
One way a community can help (this is the project we’d like to create here in the Portland area) is to work with NMV to bring a child here (accompanied by their parent) to receive medical help to treat their injuries. NMV identifies a child who could benefit from medical intervention not available in Iraq. They provide the local community with the child’s information, including all available medical records. The local community then arranges for free medical care for the child (surgeries, rehabilitation, whatever is needed to treat the injuries). The child and his/her parent stay with a local family for the duration of the medical treatment, and the local community arranges for the child/parent’s needs while they are here (i.e., transportation, language interpretation, etc). Once the child’s medical treatment is completed, the child and their parent return home.
The stories of successful medical treatments and lives and hope restored are amazing—more than we could tell here. The impact and community pride felt by the U.S. communities are additional wonderful results of involvement. Please see the NMV website and watch a few of the videos online. You can watch a brief interview with NMV founder, Cole Miller, on Democracy Now! (Friday 10/19/07). The 10/19 show also features a beautiful interview with a 10 year old, Salee and her father. Salee had both of her legs severed by a U.S. bomb that fell on her and a group of children—including her brother, sister and friends as they played hopscotch in front of their home in Hasswa, Iraq. Her brother and best friend were killed by that missile. Salee and her father were brought to South Carolina by a local NMV group where Salee received prosthetic legs and rehabilitation at Shriner’s Hospital. Her story will break your heart. As her father states, “…Salee was re-born in the U.S.”
A second way NMV works is by sending donations to help buy medical supplies for hospitals in Iraq. According to Oxfam, about 90% of Iraqi hospitals lack the basic supplies needed to provide care. For example, Salee’s mother (who is in Iraq) is due to have a baby by Cesearian Section (as we are writing this letter). For three days she has been turned away from the local hospital because they do not have anesthesia.
The third option for community involvement is through an advocacy project with NMV. NMV identifies an Iraqi child who has been wounded beyond the scope of medical treatment. They provide the participating community with all available information about the child and family’s health and basic needs. The community then writes a “needs assessment” and gathers funds and/or resources (e.g., a wheelchair) that they coordinate with NMV to send to the child/family
in Iraq.
Portland is a city with a very large heart and wonderful pediatric resources. We’d like to put these into action by banding together to bring a child
here for medical treatment.
We are reaching out for your help:
1. If you are a medical/health person, or know of pediatric specialists, please think of what you can offer. We do not know exactly what the needs of the child will be, but in the past, surgeons, burn specialists, pediatric ophthalmologists, PT and rehabilitation specialists have been needed. PLEASE PASS THIS LETTER TO ANY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES IN THOSE FIELDS. WE WOULD BE VERY ANXIOUS TO TALK WITH THEM. All medical care for the child must be provided “pro bono”, so we also need help in contacting the institution(s) where the care will be provided.
2. Housing and living support for the child/parent. We are looking for families who would be willing to house the child and his/her parent for the time of their Portland stay. Typically the treatment has lasted a number of months. It is easier for the child/parent to stay in a home where Arabic is spoken. Other support needs include interpretation at medical appointments, transportation, cultural and other “welcoming” type activities.
3. Media outreach. NMV can help us with this. However, we know our community best. It is important to get these stories out so that we can all become more aware of the human costs of war. In communities where children have come, amazing things have happened. In South Carolina, one resident stated that prior to Salee’s arrival, she “had no idea there were children living in Iraq.” Another said, “When Salee returns, there will be someone in Iraq that we love. We need to end this war.”
4. Fundraising. Again, NMV will help us with this aspect of the project. But fundraising is such an important piece. We will be exploring ways to raise awareness of the human and other costs of war as well as creative options to bring in the dollars to support this effort. Below is our contact information. Please provide us with the best way to contact you, how you would like to be involved, and we will start a project list of interested people. You do not need to commit large amounts of time. Please just think of what parts of this project might be a match for you. Think about spreading the word to any faith, peace, school, or other groups with which you are connected. We invite you to join us. We believe we will all find rewards beyond words through this project.
Maxine Fookson and Ned Rosch Marilee Dea and Mac McKinlay
503-234-3501 rofo@teleport.com 503-771-6088 macmckinlay@earthlink.net
I must admit that my words cannot match your kind, expressive blog. I know the way to truth is long and full of agonies, but with thoughts like these and hard work we will definitely reach a better understanding between our two peoples.
Maki Al-Nazzal
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:33 pmNMV Middle East Regional Director