Dear Friends of Salee,

I know that, like me, those of you in the Carolinas have been anxiously awaiting Salee’s return “home”. Many of you not in the area have either met Salee or heard me rattle on about her so much that you feel like you know her! All of you know that she’s a sweet, charismatic, fun, beautiful and loving little girl.

Maybe for some of you, part of your heart is in Iraq with her like mine is. So you know it’s difficult for me to have to let you all know that we’ll have to postpone Salee’s trip to the States, probably until at least September. But, I know it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that NMV, like the rest of our nation, is suffering a serious financial setback. We thought we could cover Salee’s trip with money from our general fund until we could raise the funds here, but our general fund no longer has the money to do this. As you all know, NMV had some serious financial situations recently with Mustafa Ghazwan’s stay in Jordan lasting several months as they awaited his father’s visa approval, Mustafa Abed undergoing emergency life-saving surgery at a hospital that was not the one signed on for pro bono care, and little Noora still here, awaiting what we hope to be a successful surgery on May 4th.

Cole and I know that this is a difficult time financially for everyone, and we want you all to know that your help in the past, your compassion, your donations, and your prayers, are so appreciated! We thank you so much for all you’ve done for Salee and all of the children!

But if you can donate to Salee’s return, please do. If you can’t, please let your friends and family know that Salee needs all of our help to get the care she needs.

I’ll leave you with Abu Ali’s words from a voicemail he left me the other morning. It was 7 am and I couldn’t bring myself to answer the phone knowing that my lack of language skills couldn’t possibly convey how sorry I was for the delay. He broke my heart when I listened to his message. “Why, Ann? Why no Salee and Abu Ali come to America? What problem, Ann? Salee legs big ouch. Salee come to America, please.”

Please help us bring Salee to America!

As Salee would say - I love you all, BIG!