“When we fled our home in the North of Iraq, we left behind everything we loved and cherished. Our clothes, home, friends and toys. We walked for days looking for refuge and some days we had nothing to eat but dry bread that we had found along the way. Winter came and we all fell ill, we could no longer live in the makeshift tent, the cold felt like a saw cutting through our bones.
Eventually we found a room to live in, but it had nothing in it, only a small floor mattress that didn’t fit all 9 of us. There were times when we felt utter despair and pain. We would ask ourselves, will this situation ever change? Will we ever feel warm? Full? Happy? Will we ever go to school again? Will life ever become normal again as it once was?
Then one day, out of the blue, we heard that a group of mums from London had sponsored us. Not only that but they were going to build us a home and buy us clothes and toys! We couldn’t sleep that night! “Is this true?” We kept asking each other, as it seemed like a dream and we were too scared to fall asleep in case we were to wake up and find out that it was just a dream.
Three months later that dream did indeed come true. Our newly built home is now ready for us to move into and we have registered at the local school. Our sponsors have sent us a lovely gift that will enable us to buy new school clothes, shoes and books, so we can walk into school looking all smart, like we always did before we were driven away from our land.”
To our sponsors, we don’t think that there are any words that we can say to thank you enough. In fact, we don’t think there are any words to describe how you have helped to improve the lives of these orphaned girls. You are a true inspiration to us and from our heart we say thank you.
[A World Without Barriers](October 2016)
