It all started with an email we received from a U.S. Army sergeant a few years ago.
He told us every day Iraqis would show up at his checkpoint with sick and injured children begging for help.
He said the policy was “life, sight or limb” – if the child was about to lose one of these then they would admit the child and try to help him or her. For every other problem, the child and parent have turned away.
After turning away hundreds of parents who had shown up with children with horrible clefts, and after the parents kept asking him for help, the sergeant searched the internet for help and found us.
I was glad he did. When we first met I had no idea how we could help provide cleft surgery in Iraq but I sure hoped we could figure it out.
It was much more complicated, difficult and took longer (years!) than we could ever have imagined, but we were able to send a Smile Train medical mission to Iraq and it was a big success.
This historic mission was led by one our best surgeons, Dr. Fabio Abenavoli, from Rome, Italy.
Fabio is a fearless humanitarian and excellent cleft surgeon who will go anywhere there are children who need help.
Over the past couple years, with our support, Fabio has led surgical missions to Iraq, Afghanistan, Mozambique, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda and Armenia.
In case you are wondering why we are sending a traditional medical mission to Iraq instead of empowering local surgeons as we usually do, let me explain.
We actually do currently support more than six Iraqi cleft surgeons who do the best they can under impossible circumstances.
But things are so bad, the medical infrastructure has been so decimated, conditions are so dangerous for doctors, that to help a large number of children, we had to not only bring in a team of surgeons and nurses, we had to bring a state-of-the-art mobile operating unit as well to perform the surgeries in.
In this amazing mobile operating theater at Camp Mittica in southern Iraq, Fabio and his team, working side by side with Iraqi surgeons and nurses, changed the lives of 66 very lucky Iraqi children and their families. During the mission, 15 Iraqi surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses were also trained.
The mother of a little 7-month-old girl named Duha, from Nasiriyah, was so appreciative after seeing her daughter after her surgery, that she hugged Fabio told him something he will never forget.
“I believe there is a heaven, and I will gladly give you my place in heaven to thank you for what you have done for my daughter.”
Salvatore, an Italian nurse and father of two who was part of the visiting surgical team wrote, (translated from Italian)
“Probably someone will ask why, Westerners are risking their lives to help these children? They are beautiful.
Their eyes, though sad, are beautiful. They quickly understand that we are here to help them. Their parents affectionately greet us. These children are suffering from a disease that is easy to heal, but that without our help, could mean death (in some countries being born with cleft is synonymous with death) because these children are considered monsters, demons. Stupid ignorance!
The days pass quickly. We worked tirelessly, from dawn till night. I am exhausted but happy. When I watch these tiny miracles happen it makes me smile. I feel like laughing with joy. The angels now have the wings and we smile as we walk away.
Now I want to go home and see my children. This morning, back at my usual job, wearing my usual smile, but it is not the same. I am not the same. Maybe I am at a turning point in my life.
I am lucky, my children can go to school without worrying that a bomb will kill them. I am lucky because every day I don’t pass by children without legs or arms, torn by bombs hidden in the sand, lives ruined by men who are so evil and violent. I am lucky because I know that there is someone who loves me and believes in me. I have only my life, to continue to help those less fortunate than I. I am lucky because I have two sons and a family that loves me.”
