Lateifa clings to hope

In May of 2004, when Lateifa was eight years old, she visited a holy place with her family in Najaf. A bomb blast changed her life forever. It killed her mother, her father, her three sisters, and her three brothers. And it burned her face, scalp, hands, and foot. Tightening of the burned skin deformed her foot, melted her thumb to her forefinger, and otherwise restricted the use of her hands. Four years and many operations later, this remarkable girl continues to walk the long road to recovery and healing, an example, we have learned, not only of resilience and courage, but also of kindness.

“We were very close to the building where the bomb exploded,” Lateifa recalls. “All I remember is a loud noise, and nothing else.” The bomb blast burned 90% of Lateifa’s body, and doctors gave her little chance to live. But Lateifa did live. She spent three months in a hospital and then a year with nursing care in her grandmother’s home. She underwent a series of plastic surgeries — twelve in all–paid for by her aunt and grandmother and friends of the family. But when the money ran out, Lateifa’s family was left with no options for medical care in Iraq.

In October, 2007, Laetifa traveled with her aunt to Jordan. Since then, she has been under the care of an international NGO, which has arranged and paid for six functional plastic surgeries.  One surgery, to correct deformities in her foot, remains.

But the scars from the bomb blast also remain, and the international NGO does not perform cosmetic plastic surgery. “I wish to finish all the operations, and get back my beautiful face and return to my school and friends,” Lateifa says. “I want to play with my friends without hearing the words ‘Look at that burnt girl,’ which hurt me so much that I stop playing. I need to feel that people accept me when they look at me, like before.”

Najlaa Al-Nashi, DAI’s Program Coordinator in Amman, met Lateifa, and understood right away that cosmetic surgery on the girl’s face would not be covered by the NGO. Because Najlaa has such a productive working relationship with this NGO, she was able to pick up this aspect of Lateifa’s casework and begin to advocate for her needs, seeking to arrange this surgery through another NGO in a hospital outside Jordan. This kind of collaboration and advocacy are a vital aspect of DAI’s ongoing work in support of Iraqis, and part of what makes DAI dynamic, functional, and vital in the chaotic climate in which it works.

Another vital aspect of DAI’s work is the social support it provides to the Iraqi individuals and families with whom it works and whose capacities it seeks to strengthen.  Sometimes this social support plays a crucial role in a person finding the strength to overcome despair and continue with treatment. Sometimes, as with Lateifa, it helps an injured and traumatized child heal from her psychological wounds and adapt to the new and changing reality she faces daily. Lateifa and Najlaa Al-Nashi have become good friends. They spend easy time together, and Lateifa sends messages through Najlaa to an international photographer who befriended her recently and whom she misses. Hope is a precious gift for a traumatized child, and Lateifa clings to it tenaciously. Recently she told Najlaa, “I want to meet my photographer friend after my surgery, and I want him to see me beautiful again.”

Often as DAI gets to know someone, there are surprises, as aspects of a person’s story or character are revealed. Lateifa has revealed herself as a person of remarkable energy and compassionate caring. Despite her considerable personal trauma, and despite the uncertainties of treatment, she is quick to comfort and lend a helping hand to other, younger patients.

DAI referred Lateifa to another international NGO which can provide cosmetic plastic surgery, and thanks to DAI’s advocacy, Lateifa has been accepted for treatment. The plastic surgery will be performed by specialists in another country, and Lateifa is on their waiting list. It will be an unknown number of months before she is able to travel and receive care.

While she stays in Amman, DAI will continue to support her and her family and to advocate for her needs. And Lateifa will continue in the hope of receiving the plastic surgery she so dearly wants.