neurotic Iraqi wife

I have been trying to find a post I wrote a few months ago about my colleague E and her sister A, but couldnt locate it. Do you guys remember E, the lady who has been caring for her mentally ill sister??? Darn, I wish I can locate the file to refresh your memory. Reason this cropped up is because E called me this afternoon, and thank god I wasnt sleeping at the time. E has finally found someone who can take both her and her sister to Sweden. One problem, he is charging them $8500 per person. Ever since I befriended E, all she talked about was her poor sister and how worried she is about her.

Their parents have long been dead. The sister had an accident at the age of 17 and ever since then she has been diagnosed as mentally incapable. That was 17 years ago. The girl is now 34. This is the letter I received from E in arabic, and I will try my best to translate it:



الاسم: اميره
العمر: 34سنه
الحاله المرضيه: تلف الد ماغ
سنة المرض: 20-5-1989

ملخص الحاله:

اصيبت اميره (لاسباب مجهولة) بحالة اغماء نقلت بعدها الى المستشفى وبعد الفحص ظهر انخفاض حاد في نسبة السكر في الدم يرافقه انخفاض في الضغط مما ادى الى تلف الدماغ (قشرة الدماغ) وبمساحه كبيرة
ونتيجة هذا التلف اصبحت عاجزة تماما في الاعتماد على نفسها(عدم القدره وعجز تام عن المشي والتحدث
ومسك الاشياء) باختصار عاجزة عن جميع الافعال الاراد يه عدا مضغ الطعام ويمكن تشبيهها بالطفل حديث
الولاده ............
لهذه الاسباب كلها فهي تحتاج الى رعاية خاصه من( اطعام,تنظيف,تمريض) ولا توجد مستشفيات خاصه لهكذا
حالات وفي الخارج كلفتها عالية جدا لايمكن تحمل نفقاتها لذ لك اضطررت لرعايتها والعمل خارج المنزل لسد
النفقات العاليه ونحن يتيمتي الابوين.....................اما بالنسبه للتقارير الطبيه فسابعثها لاحقا مع الشكر والتقدير

In English:
Name: Amira
Age: 34
Diagnosis: Brain damage
Year of illness: 20 May 1989

For ambiguous reasons, Amira lost consciousness and was immediately taken to hospital, where it was found that she had very low sugar and extremely low pressure which resulted in damaging a vast area of her brain's shell???(not sure if thats a medical term). Consequently this made Amira completely incapable of taking care of herself. (She can never walk, talk or hold things). Basically she lost all her functional powers, except chew food. She can be described as a newly born baby.

For these reasons, she is in dire need for someone to take care of her (Feed her, clean her, medicate her). There are no private clinics available in Iraq that has these services, and almost all the ones outside need vasts amount of funds, which I do not have. That is why I was forced to take care of her and go to work inorder to be able to get some money. We are orphans. As for the medical reports I will attach them later. With my thanks and respect.

If any arabic person reads this please correct me if I missed anything in the translation. So as you can see, E, for the past 17 years has been the only carer for her sister. She couldnt get married, has lost the dream of having a life of her own, kids and a family. E, has given her all to her sister, but until when??? How long can she stay like this. Amira needs proffessional help. She needs someone who knows how to deal with her situation. I know that E has never ever put her sister down and did and still is doing everything she can to get the funds.

I had previously told her that there is an Iraqi NGO, here in Abu Dhabi, that can put her plight publicly and will probably be able to collect some funds for her. For some reason, the emails I sent werent received by the right guy. I did manage to speak to the CEO today and he said that with the appropriate papers, they will be able to set aside like a donating fund for people to help with. I told her that I cant promise anything and that not all the expenses may be met, but whatever this NGO will be able to receive is better than nothing. I had asked her that presumabley she had some money saved and she said she does. The amount needed is $10K.

Reason Im writing about this, is Im thinking of setting a donation thing on my blog. I dont even know how I can do that. Can anyone help??? And do you think it will be a good idea??? I will call it the "Amira" Fund. Btw Amira means princess. I cant believe that a young seventeen year old, has missed out on all the years that she was able to live normally. She missed out on college, something that we all take for granted. She missed out on falling in love, on having crushes. She missed out on finding the right person, getting married, having children. She missed out on holding and nurturing her kids. For she herself has been transformed into one. A helpless child... She missed out on Having a life.

The same ofcourse goes for her sister E. The sister is a civil engineer. Very intelligent. She even tried the US immigration number, that was given out to Iraqis sometime in Feb. What you do is call a phone number, they then give you a number and tell you to wait for a phonecall so they can arrange an interview. No one called her until now, and it seems that the DOS (Department of State) has issued an all hands email, saying that only Iraqi translators' applications will be processed. I guess they need Iraqi translators back in the US. So her dream of taking her sister to the States to be cared for, Disappeared into thin air... Her only chance is that guy. I asked her whther he is trustworthy, and she said that she knows of a family he helped and they are now in Sweden.

I always feel awkward when it comes to asking people for money. I was there when I volunteered to assist Emma Nicholson in London. I was even more so shocked and disappointed at the lack of interest from the Iraqis in London. Filthy rich people who are only busy going to Harrods and Harvey to spend their millions on the latest Gucci bag, or Valentino tie. They couldnt even spare 10 or 20 pounds. 99% of the donations I received then were from Europeans. Even poor pensioners who only have their slight pension to survive on managed to donate for the cause. What ashame...So Please anyone, anyone out there who is interested to help, help me, suggest something. Will it be a good idea if I set a donating fund for Amira on the blog??? And if yes, how can I do it. The NGO is definitely gonna help, but lets facilitate the process and start from now.

Please, help me Help E. Help me, Help Amira...Amira the Princess who lost her life at the young age of 17. Amira the princess who for some vague godly will, lost her mental function. Help me, help E. Please. I dont usually do this, but this time, I feel that its something I need to do. Its a small thing that we all can contribute to. A needle in a haystack. If anyone has suggestions and dont wanna leave comments, email me on neurotic_wife@yahoo.com and I can send you the medical reports. Maybe you can talk to your state rep or something. Please.

This is for Amira, Amira the princess....