Kurds at the Sea

The last two days we have brought nearly all of our Iraqi patients and their mothers to the Sea. Arazoo (16) and Hemin (21) the first day, and 4 of the young children, Azhin (3), Elaf (2), Vanya (9), and Wihaj (3) the second day when we found out the echocardiograms we thought were scheduled for them were in fact tomorrow. Rather than waste the 2-hour trip back and forth to Jerusalem we thought it would be a good opportunity to take them to the sea. You wouldn’t think much of an outing like this except that for people native to Northern Iraq have probably never seen a lake, let alone a body of water like the Mediterranean. It’s quite an experience to witness someone do something for the first time, in fact I think this must be the satisfaction parents get when they watch their children grow up. No longer enjoying the activities themselves so much but perhaps instead enjoying to an equal extent their children experience the same joy they did growing up. This time my joy was not limited to the children even, as even the mothers had a sense of awe at this body of water that to them is brand new. Watching very reserved grown women display such excitement can't help but make you smile. Neither Hemin nor Arazoo cared to even touch the water, but Hemin was happy to stroll the beach and take picture after picture, while Arazoo spent most of the time collecting sea shells to take back with her. The next day with the little kids was even better as both they and their mothers were even less reserved about having fun, getting their feet wet, and playing in the sand. Having never seen seashells before I had the pleasure of showing the little ones what they were. Vanya and Azhin enjoyed collecting them as well. In spite of all the difficult feelings I am processing it was a great day today.