UPCOMING

By Joyce Coronel | March 5, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

When Bassam Ibrahim remembers his life in war-torn Iraq and his daughter’s severe medical problems, he is sure of one thing: without the help of Catholic Charities Community Services, he and his family might be dead.

The 36-year-old father of two has found safety in the United States and his daughter has found the medical attention she desperately needed. Speaking through an interpreter, Bassam said his life was in danger in his homeland due to his work with the U.S. Army.

“If they find you are working with the Americans, even in construction or interpreting, they will make you a target until they kill you and kill your family. Not only that, they steal from you and make your life miserable,” he said.

Bassam, his wife, mother-in-law and two children came to the United States as refugees last year after leaving Egypt, where they were also in constant danger.

Families like the Ibrahims are not alone. Last year, Catholic Charities touched the lives of nearly 200,000 people in need throughout central and northern Arizona. A big part of their efforts is helping people climb out of poverty.

The non-profit organization has felt the sting of the recession as contributions — both individual and corporate — have declined dramatically. The third annual Compassion in Action Breakfast is one way to help them continue to serve the needy.

The breakfast will be held April 2 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. All proceeds raised during the event will directly benefit Catholic Charities programs that help individuals, families and children.

Services offered by Catholic Charities include adoption and foster care, counseling emergency and transitional housing, prostitution rehabilitation programs, Head Start and Early Head Start, immigration and refugee services and more.

“We do this breakfast to introduce people to the critically important work Catholic Charities does every day,” said Paul Martodam, CEO of Catholic Charities. “When people see how we change lives — and in some cases save lives — they’re inspired to work with us and support us.”

Amazing outcome

The Ibrahims were greeted at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport by Haider Albedairee, a case manager from Catholic Charities who knew Fatima, the family’s 9-year-old daughter, had health problems, but didn’t realize just how severe her condition was.

Fatima, a bright-eyed girl with a perpetual smile and curly dark hair, was born with her intestines outside her body as well as other birth defects. In the United States, children with the condition have surgery soon after birth, but doctors in Iraq could not — or would not — perform the procedure.

Bassam said many doctors in his native land “wanted to kill Fatima or let her die,” but the family never gave up hope. The parents and grandmother maintained a 24-hour-a-day watch over Fatima for nine years, applying antibiotic creams and caring for her colostomy site. None of the adults rested easy, knowing how precarious the girl’s health was.

Hiba Tawfig, who works with the refugee services program of Catholic Charities, took Fatima directly to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for medical attention.

Doctors there were amazed the child had survived nine years with her intestines outside her body. On July 31, they performed a 14-hour surgery to correct Fatima’s birth defect.

Catholic Charities also arranged for the girl to be seen by an audiologist. Fatima suffers from a profound hearing loss and is unable to speak, but she now wears a hearing aid and attends a school for the deaf in the West Valley.

Wijdan, Fatima’s mother, can hardly believe how their lives have changed in the last year. She said that prior to the operation, the little girl tired easily due to frequent infections and was unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. Her serious health problems also kept her from attending school.

After years of caring for her daughter’s medical needs, Wijdan said her “life can begin now.” She is studying to become a nurse’s assistant, a job she says comes naturally after all her years watching over Fatima.

Tawfig, whose work with Catholic Charities involves helping refugees get settled and find jobs, said that the Ibrahims are like many of the hundreds of Iraqis who now live in the Valley.

“There are a lot of Iraqis with psychological trauma from the war. They wake up at night and there is a bomb here, a bomb there,” Tawfig said, adding that children don’t go to school because their mothers fear they will be killed.

“They’re all in fear that one day a bomb will come in the house,” Tawfig said.

Bassam said he finally feels safe and has a peace that eluded him in the Middle East.

“I’m human here. My age is 36, but I didn’t feel that way at home — I felt like an old man,” he said. “Here I am treated like a human being.”

He’s also thankful for his newfound freedom, yet the memories of growing up in a repressive regime still haunt him.

“In my country in elementary school, you don’t have the right to speak your opinion; you are like a sheep. You are told what to do and you obey,” he said.

“But here you are free to speak and do anything you want to, to wear any clothes you want. Back home you can’t tell anyone if you are Sunni or Shiite. Here you can be Catholic, Buddhist, or Muslim; we are all the same,” he said with a smile.

Bassam grew misty-eyed thinking about the help his family has received from Catholic Charities and how thankful he is that his daughter is better now.

“There are no words to express how I feel,” he said. “It’s like a dream — our dreams came true.”