Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Iraqi Dominicans tell of dangers, difficulties
Iraqi Dominicans tell of dangers, difficulties
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 22, 2008
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Adrian Dominican Sr. Durstyne Farnum (left) talks with visiting Iraqi Dominican Srs. Francoise Jaju and Ban Saeed Jan. 26 at Adrian. |
Adrian – What with assassinations, kidnappings, and only sporadic electrical service, Iraqis are "not having a normal life," Sr. Rihab Mousa, OP, told a Jan. 24-27 conference of Dominican communications directors.
Sr. Mousa and three other Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena from Mosul, Iraq, spoke or served as translators at a Jan. 26 session, sharing the stark reality of life in their homeland with representatives of Dominican congregations from across the United States.
They spoke at the Weber Conference Center on the campus of the Adrian Dominicans.
At Mosul University
Sr. Ban Saeed and Sr. Maryan Khume told of the difficult situation at the university in Mosul, with Sr. Luma Kudher acting as translator.
"The president of the political science college at the university went out one day without his bodyguard, and he was killed that day," Sr. Saeed said.
And when some students tried to organize a prayer service after the slaying, they were threatened by some of those who had been involved, she continued.
Recounting another incident, Sr. Saeed told of the slaying of a doctor in the university's medical school, who was the only head injury specialist in Mosul.
Sr. Khume, who works as a nurse at the university's hospital, said there was one day she will never be able to forget – when a huge explosion in front of the hospital resulted in about 400 patients being brought in.
"There were so many people without a hand, without a foot, without a leg," she said.
A particularly tragic case involved a 2-year-old child who had suffered a head injury. Having run out of anesthetic, the doctor had to perform surgery on the boy without it.
Intermittent electricity
Sr. Mousa told how difficult everyday life can be in her home village of Karaqush, Iraq.
"Electricity is a big problem. My mother leaves the light switch on at night when she goes to sleep, so that if the power comes back on, the light will wake her up and she can get up and cook," she said.
And for many Iraqis, their education has been interrupted by the violence that continues in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime. "My father's a teacher, and last year 10 of his students were kidnapped for two days before a ransom was paid. After that, especially the girls are afraid to go to school," Sr. Mousa said.
The ongoing violence in Iraq has prompted many Iraqis to flee the country, with the refugees primarily concentrated in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Refugee backlog
Sr. Durstyne Farnum, an Adrian Dominican, related firsthand observations about the refugee situation from her Jan. 11-20 visit to the Middle East as a member of a Catholic Relief Services-sponsored delegation of U.S. women religious.
Sr. Farnum is one of two co-promoters of justice, peace and care of creation for the North American Dominicans.
She said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are about 1.5 million Iraqis in Syria, but procedural disputes between the U.S. government and Syrian government have meant that only about 8,000 cases have been registered for admission into the United States.
Sr. Farnum and the other members of the delegation also met with local Catholic leaders and representatives of Caritas International, as other nations' equivalents of Catholic Relief Services are known.
Education interrupted
She said one of the tragic aspects of the situation is that the disruption in the children's education is causing long-term problems: "As they get older, many children are not going to school (even when it again becomes possible to do so), because they are embarrassed because of their age."
Galia Thomas, a member of St. Thomas (Chaldean) Parish in West Bloomfield Township, addressed the gathering about local efforts in the Detroit area to assist those Iraqi refugees that do make it through the process.
She said 2,316 Iraqis made it to Detroit in 2007, and that between 800 and 1,000 are expected in 2008.
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