In November, 2007 I joined a group from Global Exchange to visit the Middle East to learn more about the Iraqi refugee crisis. I learned about the incredible suffering that these people were enduring. There were a hundred heartbreaking stories and a hundred causes that deserved (and still deserve) attention and action. There were also stories of hope and kindness.

One story that stuck with me was the story of Abdul Hakeem and his family.  We were invited to meet with a group of people who had witnessed the air strikes in Falluja. Below is an excerpt from my travel journal that day.

Thursday, November 29, 2007 11:17 AM

The 2nd part of the day was spent with Mr. M. who talked to us about Falluja.  We were joined by 3 very special guests. First we met the very charming Abdul Hakeem and his father.  You may have seen them in the news. Abdul lost an eye and half his face when his house was hit by an American air strike.  He is a very sweet and playful little boy and while I took notes he pretended to read my notebook with great interest.  When we saw a film clip of the bombing and I cried a bit, he patted my leg and nodded his head.
He is one of the lucky children that was championed by No More Victims a group that gets communities to sponsor a child to come to the US and get treatment.

Abdul’s community is Pittsburgh.  We had a nice talk about the great incline there since many of you know I am a big Pittsburgh fan.

Then we were joined by Cole Miller, the founder of No More Victims. He was in town trying to get a return visa for Abdul and his father so they could go back to the US for his 2nd round of reconstructive surgery.

He walked us through a few cases and his approach to building knowledge in the US about what is happening on the ground by encouraging people to “find one person who is suffering and do everything in your power to help them”.  While we were meeting the call from the embassy came in letting him know the visa was good to go and they could depart in the next 2 days.

The father had tears in his eyes and Abdul clapped and said “Pittsburgh”!  It was very hard to leave but it was getting late and they had to start preparing for their trip to America.

Abdul’s sweet face stayed with me and when I found in April 2008 that I would be traveling to Pittsburgh on business I thought perhaps our paths would cross again.

April 15th, 2008
Dear travel journal buddies,

When I last left you in December, I was in Amman, having just returned from Syria. In Amman I had met with Cole Miller of No More Victims and one of his young victims, Abdul Hakim and his father Ishmael.  As you may remember Abdul was hit in an air strike in Fallujah and lost his eye and a portion of his face.  No More Victims was arranging for some children like Abdul to come to America for surgery.  Their philosophy is pick one person and do everything you can to help them.  No More Victims works with communities to sponsor these children in need and Abdul had been “adopted” by the people of Pittsburgh.

I was Pittsburgh to attend an HR conference. After contacting Cole and Anna, I found that Abdul was still in town recovering from his latest surgery and yes, he and his father remembered me and yes, they would love to visit. He is such a beautiful boy with dark eyes and hair and a surprisingly open face and easy smile.

I arrived at the Ronald McDonald house, a lovely Victorian in the Shadyside district, home of the old Millionaire Row where the Steel Barons had their homes.  Abdul was waiting in the parlor and told me immediate that he was happy to see me and that his mother said hello.  His translator was stuck at the hospital with an emergency victim in need of her Arabic skills, but I found we needed no translator.  Abdul’s English had improved immensely and we got on just fine. His father and I could communicate with a few words on either side and a lot of hand gestures.

We talked about his new friends in the U.S., his fondness for pizza and we played some kick ball in the small back yard.  I asked Abdul what he wanted to be when he grew up.  A doctor or a builder he said. A doctor to help people or a builder so he could build
houses.  After a little thought he said that maybe a builder would be better because you wouldn’t have to go to school so long, but maybe he would build houses for doctors.  Then he shared some very exciting news. Cole was going to take him to Disney Land before he went home.

After 5 months, Abdul and his father would be back in Iraq in less than two weeks.  Did Abdul miss Iraq?  Yes, mostly he missed his mom he said shyly. His mom, by the way, is still in Fallujah taking care of the other 9 children.  She is still injured from the attack and once I figure out how to best go about this, I will be reaching out to you all to help raise funds for her surgery to remove shrapnel from her stomach. When she was hit in the raid, she was pregnant, and the shrapnel went through her stomach, killing the baby and leaving her very damaged.

As we wound up, Ishmael asked through the interpreter (who arrived near the end of our time together), have you been to Iraq? No? Oh, it is beautiful, he said and then after a pause gave a slight smile and corrected himself.  It was beautiful.  Then he opened his arms wide and said, when there are no more bombs, come visit us.  Salaam, salaam (peace, peace), he said
bowing his head.  It is all we wish for.

So now I’m asking you to help be a part of this healing and this peace that we wish for. Let us help make Abdul’s family whole. For $4,500 we can get Fhadilah Nsaif (Abdul’s mom) the surgery she needs. If 100 of you give just $45 (or 45 of you give $100)we can make this help make this family whole.

Stephanie

Donations for Abdul’s mom…