Red Cross Blogs

Bomb blast survivor to volunteer

By Alix Miller
November 6, 2009 at 4:46 pm

We have got so used to hearing bad news from troubled Iraq and Afganistan in recent years,  that it’s easy to become immune to it. The tendency is to dismiss each new report of death and destruction as just another bomb or another soldier killed or community devastated, and to turn the page of your newspaper.

However, last week’s deadly bomb attack in Baghdad really made me pause for thought.  I had just interviewed one of our volunteers – Suhad Al-Naib – who together with her sister Soodad, had taken the brunt of a bomb blast in Baghdad while working at UN headquarters in 2003, during the war.

I was speaking to Suhad about their experience for a feature in Life, the British Red Cross’ staff and volunteers’ magazine.

Suhad and Soodad were lucky to survive the blast (23 people did not) although they were both badly injured. Suhad lost an eye and Soodad was scarred down one side of her body. Since then they have undergone 11 and 13 operations respectively.

They managed to flee the country and have since settled here. You’d think after such a traumatic experience and losing friends, their homes and lives in Iraq, they would feel bitterness or anger even. However, the most striking thing about Suhad was her positive attitude.

She told me: “Life is good. We are so lucky to be alive. I prefer to be optimistic and not look back. So what…I lost an eye. I still have another one.”

While trying to flee Iraq Suhad and Soodad contacted the Red Cross there for help (known there as the ‘Red Crescent’) and received much needed comfort. So when back in 2007, they walked past a Red Cross office in north London, they were keen to go in and offer their help as volunteers.

“We have managed to settle in the UK thanks to volunteering,” explained Suhad. “It’s the least we can do to give something back to thank the community for accepting us.”

You can hear more about their experience in this video.

Image © Harriet Armstrong

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Tags: Afganistan, Baghdad, Iraq, Volunteering, volunteers, war

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Emergencies, Fundraising and events, Health and social care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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