No More Victims first came to my attention a few years back, but it was in the summer of 2007 that I discovered that one of the children they are helping was in Greenville, SC - which is only 75 miles from my home town of Asheville. So, right then and there I decided to try and get this child, Salee, to come to Asheville for a visit.

My first step was contacting Ann Cothran, who founded the Upstate Coalition of Compassion to raise funds for Salee’s medical care at the Shriner’s in Greenville. I met up with her one sunny Sunday afternoon and we discussed possible events. The WNC Peace Coalition was already planning a vigil on the evening of September 19, 2007 to mark four and a half years of US occupation of Iraq, so we felt that having Salee and her father, Abu Ali, come to that event would be a good idea. We also decided on a potluck dinner and a presentation, and this was hosted by the First Congregational Church of Asheville. I have to add that several other churches in our area also volunteered to host this potluck - they were touched by the story and wanted to help. One Episcopalian priest told me that this was how we were going to heal the damage we have done in Iraq - by reaching out person to person.

The evening was a big success, both in fellowship and interaction between our Iraqi guests and the local folks. It was also a success in fund raising. The people of First Congregational Church were very helpful, and the only ‘glich’ was the lack of an Arabic interpreter, which we quickly solved. Salee seemed to like her “Welcome to Asheville, Salee” cake. Salee and her father went to the local Unitarian Universalist Church to see the Iraqi Civilian flags. These were funded by the WNC Peace Coalition and the church put them up especially for Salee and her father’s visit to Asheville. We also put these up every March to remember the civilians who are casualties of this war and occupation.

Several of us at this event wanted to do some further work for No More Victims. A core group of five women got together to start working on a project (and you will hear more from them) and we decided to help raise funds for Salee’s sister - Rusul - who also was injured in the US missile strike. We are just getting started on fund raising, but I am certain that our community will support us in this endeavor.

And we cannot WAIT to meet Rusul in person and have a “Welcome to Asheville, Rusul” cake for her!