Dear good friends,

Ahmed’s and Mustafa’s gentleness and bravery on this journey are totally amazing. Please feel free to get to know them. They were so moved by the warmth of the airport welcome and by the number of people who were there. I think we will all find it very easy to fall in love with them! Their story is so important to tell: here is this absolutely beautiful little boy whose injuries are extremely serious. It will be very moving to see this project evolve to tell Mustafa’s and Ahmed’s story AND to be a community that helps them heal.

A special thank you goes out to the members of the Iraqi community who have been so amazingly generous with their time, love, interpretation, meals and concern for Mustafa and Ahmed. (more…)

Hi Everyone,

Just to let you know that Noora is doing wonderfully. She has now had two post-op check-ups and is progressing along just as they had hoped. This past Thursday, her suture line had healed enough that they were able to begin the balloon expansion process, which will eventually create the skin that will cover the new prosthetic skull. Dr. Atwood will be expanding the balloon every 5-7 days for the next 6(+) weeks. Thankfully, the procedure is essentially painless!

Noora and Afef were honored to attend a lovely Sunday afternoon picnic, hosted by the Woodford’s Congregational Church in Portland, a couple of weeks ago (Woodford’s Church was one of the first organizations to sponsor a fundraising event for this project months before Noora’s arrival). Noora’s face lit up like a lightbulb when she saw that dalmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice, raisins, etc.) were on the menu! It’s one of her favorite foods, and one that she frequently talks her mom into making for her (per Afef). And, last week, Aynne Doil (a volunteer at RMH) kindly put on a delicious Middle Eastern dinner at the Ronald McDonald House, which Afef and Noora said “tasted just like home”. In anticipation of Ramadan, which began last Monday and continues throughout the month of Sept., Afef said he ate with fasting in mind. He will be abstaining from both food and fluid from sunup to sundown. Also during this time, both he and Noora will be attending nightly prayers and meals at the mosque.

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Recently, Ellen from the Portland, Oregon NMV chapter headed east to visit her hometown of Portland, Maine.  While there, she met up with Portland, Maine organizers, Doug Rogers and Susi Eggenberger, who took Ellen to meet little Nora and her father, Afef!

During the visit, Ellen gave Nora and Afef each an “Ask Me About Mustafa” t-shirt from their chapter.  The Portland, Oregon group is waiting for 6-year-old Mustafa Abed, who lost his leg and a large part of his hip to a US air strike in November of 2004, and created these shirts to spread awareness about Mustafa’s plight.

Nora, who needs plastic surgery on her skull, was more than happy to wear Mustafa’s shirt and show her support for another young victim of the invasion of her country.

Thank you so much to both Portlands for your support, creativity, and compassion for our friends, the civilians of Iraq! (more…)

A weblog has been created for the Whittier California chapter.

A weblog has been created for the Rancho Bernardo, California chapter of NMV.

Good news! Mustafa and his father have their visa appointment set for July 29th at the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan. Within about three weeks of that appointment (mid to late August!), Mustafa should be in Portland. Mustafa’s first evaluation appointment at Shriner’s is set for August 27th. He and his father will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House at OHSU. We are still working out arrangements for evaluation and treatment of Mustafa’s abdominal injuries.

We are so excited to meet Mustafa and his father and to shower them with a warm and loving Portland welcome.

To begin getting us ready, Geri and David told their 3rd, 4th and 5th graders about Mustafa and the students decorated beautiful posters that they will bring to the Portland airport to welcome Mustafa. The students also created great colorful pictures for Mustafa to hang in his room and an alphabet book with terrific pictures representing the letters of the alphabet. Channel 8 had a photographer at Geri and David’s classes getting footage of the students drawing this amazing art—footage they intend to incorporate into their coverage of Mustafa.

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Hi Everyone,

We’ve had a moment to catch our breaths and wanted to send out a quick update to let those of you, who haven’t heard, know that Nora and Afef arrived in Portland on Thursday afternoon without a hitch and have been quickly and fluidly adjusting to their new home at the Ronald McDonald House. Nora is absolutely delightful, full of energy and an abundance of smiles. She is constantly engaging us in Arabic, no doubt with hopes that if she just keeps speaking we are bound to eventually understand her language! Afef (a delight himself!) actually speaks quite a bit of English and has made significant improvements even in the past couple of days.

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Thanks to all who came to last Sunday’s potluck at Laurelhurst Park — it was a great gathering!

Good news! Mustafa and his father have their visa appointment set for July 29th at the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan. Within about three weeks of that appointment (That’s mid to late August!), Mustafa should be in Portland. We have contacted Shriner’s Hospital and asked them to re-schedule Mustafa’s first evaluation appointment for the 3rd week in August. There are unpredictable things in the visa process, so we have to all be patient with any delays. We will definitely keep the updates coming as we know of more details.

We are so excited to meet Mustafa and his father and to shower them with a warm and loving Portland welcome.

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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.

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I wanted to help an injured war child because I could never think of my little brother being hurt in such a way. These injures don’t just hurt the child physically but emotionally also. I believe that children should be able to have choices and be able to have dreams but when they are injured in such a way their dreams are gone. I help because I want to give those children their dreams back.

Alyssa is a middle school student and the lead organizer for the No More Victims – Casper chapter at her school.