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No More Victims Update and Plans | The Ruth Group

Monday, March 10, 2008

No More Victims Update and Plans

Filed under: Action | No More Victims Bay Area | Ruth Group Project — by Ruth Friend @ 7:02 pm

March 8,2008 No More Victims Meeting

On Saturday, March 8, Ruth Group volunteers met for the first time to begin work on the No More Victims Bay Area Project. No More Victims, is a nationally recognized organization based in Los Angeles, which has brought six war-injured Iraqi children to the United States for medical care. Two children are presently undergoing treatment in Boston and Pittsburgh. All of the children were injured by US forces. We are so happy to be helping No More Victims bring an Iraqi child to the Bay Area for medical treatment.

It was an exciting and productive meeting, full of enthusiasm which was backed with constructive readiness to get to work. After iced tea and a look at the great view of Mt.Tam from Amy’s home, the group got down to work. Introductions were made, and all the different ways we are moved to do something concrete came flowing out. The Ruth Group volunteers were from many different backgrounds and professions, but with a single purpose of addressing the suffering caused by the Iraq War. Amy reviewed where we stood as of Saturday (we’ve moved along since then!!), including, that No More Victims has identified a prospective child who is now in Syria with No More Victims representatives. This boy needs a cochlear implant. His hearing was completely damaged after a bomb explosion outside of his home in Iraq. He is 2.5 years old and had just begun to speak when the incident occurred. He is now completely deaf and medical tests show that he does not respond to decibel levels as high as 130, the equivalent of a jet engine and greater than a pile driver at 50 feet. So far, the medical records secured by No More Victims indicate that he is a good candidate for an implant. It is a complicated procedure of pre-operative and post-operative therapy. Rona Weintraub, a speech therapist, has been helpful in raising therapy issues of concern, and advising on his care. No More Victims has made arrangements for his follow up care in the Middle East after he receives the implant in the Bay Area. Rona also put us in touch with a specialist who can advise.

Dr. Dan Lowenstein of the Iraq Action Group at UCSF reported his findings. He has reviewed medical information provided by No More Victims, and consulted with specialists in hearing/cochlear implants in the Bay Area. No More Victims coordinated additional testing in Syria so that local medical professionals could make informed decisions about Mustafa’s treatment. Dan has found a specialist who is willing to perform the surgery at no cost. We unanimously agreed to begin fund raising in order to help No More Victims bring this child to the Bay Area.

The biggest news of all is that as of today, as I write, Dr. Lowenstein emailed us that UCSF has ok’d use of the hospital at cost. Given that all goes well, it will be an in and out surgery. This is the news we have been holding our breath to hear, as without this we could not proceed with this hospital. Thank you to UCSF and their “Charity Care” program. We really want to find a way to reinforce what a big deal we know this is, and thank them for their generosity.

Back to our meeting…things happening at a nice pace as far as I am concerned. But we can’t move fast enough. We agreed on a start up three prong fundraising campaign. Our initial goal is $20,000. This will pay for medical and post operative time as well as travel costs for the boy and his father, funds for their support and maintenance during their stay in the Bay Area, and support for the family back home.

  • 1. A slow-mail campaign. We all have addresses of friends and coworkers we think will give to this boy’s medical care. Amy is drafting a letter and researching how to get the photos to insert.
  • 2. A swanky special invitational dinner (10-12 people) at Amy’s home.
  • 3. A photo gallery show in the Easy Bay. Volunteer Ilona Sturm, from Berkeley is linking us with a photo gallery in Berkeley. This will be a curated show. The gallery, invitations and opening included, have been offered to our project for $400. We are grateful to Ilona for her work on this.

This is just a beginning and gets us started raising money for for the No More Victims – Bay Area Project. Further, volunteers formed a transportation committee and others have connections within the Iraqi community and will see what we can do there.

We are off to a good start! Our next meeting will be in three weeks. To be announced. Watch the Blog!!

In Peace,

Ruth Friend

Let us know if you can contribute to this project. Email:mailto:amysc@rtasc.com

All check donations for No More Victims Bay Area Project should be made to: IHC/ No More Victims-Bay Area

Mail To: Ruth Group, PO Box 722, Mill Valley, CA 94942

2 Comments »

  1. Bea Benjamin:

    I was very touched when I read about your project to sponsor this child. Compassion in action. It would feel so good to do something to address the harm to even one little kid. It is something at least.
    I’m still digging myself out of my last big move and can’t keep up with demands that are on me now, but I look forward to rejoining the ranks of the RG some day soon.

    Blessings for your efforts.
    Bea

  2. Ilona Sturm:

    Here in the East Bay, I’ve recently announced to the Berkeley Parent’s Network our project of bringing Mustafa here and looking for Arabic speaking parents who could arrange for playdates and outings once the surgery has been done. I’ve been delighted to have received a couple of warm and generous offers from local mothers who want be involved on many levels. Soon I hope to meet them and begin to create the tangible community that will be supporting Mustafa and his father while they are here many months.

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