Iraq: Sometimes Words Just aren’t Enough

It’s not every day that we get to catch up with a former patient and hear about their new life. And when it does happen, it’s something that’s hard to put into words.

Recently, we were lucky enough to experience just that – and all the emotions that came with it. More than 13 years after she was first treated, Arazoo came to see us at our Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. We first met her in 2005, when we produced a prosthesis to replace her hand that she had lost due to a congenital illness.

It was more than a decade ago, through one of our vocational training courses, that she learnt her craft, and now, surrounded by different cloths and fabrics, she’s able to put it into practice. Every year, we continue to offer these courses to disabled patients and amputees like her.

“Thanks to that course, and thanks to you, I was able to learn a trade that’s suited to my disability. I have plenty of customers now, and they’re all very happy with the clothes I make,” she tells us when we ask about the small tailor’s shop that she was able to open under her house with our support.

What Arazoo does every day is more than just a job. We can tell, not just from the passion she puts into her work, but by the first thing she says when she sees us again: “One day I hope my daughter can work alongside me.” You see, for us, this isn’t just a follow-up. We see it as a source of pride, as care that goes above and beyond medical treatment.