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US: Iraqi Kurdish girl finally has a
reason to smile
29.6.2007
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The
7-year-old was brought to Hampton Roads for surgery
to fix a problem that kept her jaw nearly closed.
June
29, 2007
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Rayan Hussain Faeq is
smiling.
Sitting next to her mother in the Virginia Beach
home where they are staying, the 7-year-old strokes
the blond hair of a Barbie doll, occasionally
glancing up with big brown eyes to respond to an
interpreter's questions.
How do you like America?
"A lot."
What have you been eating?
"Ice cream. Pepsi."
And she smiles some more, opening her mouth wide
because, well, now she can.
A few weeks ago, Rayan - pronounced Ray-Ann - could
barely open her mouth. Because of a problem with her
jaw since birth, she couldn't smile. She could
hardly eat or drink and had trouble sleeping because
she couldn't breathe well.
All that has changed, thanks to Operation Smile.
The Norfolk-based nonprofit helps children worldwide
with facial deformities. Rayan, whose family is from
Sulaimaniyah - a city in northeastern Iraq's
Kurdistan region - was brought to the group's
attention with the help of an Army officer stationed
in Iraq who learned of her plight.
After a series of phone calls and flurries of
paperwork, Rayan and her mother, Parwin Hama Ali,
flew to the United States this month via Jordan,
where Operation Smile does missions. Her surgery was
performed for free on June 11 at Children's Hospital
of the King's Daughters in Norfolk.
Her prognosis?
"Just fine," said Dr. Eric Cole, who along with
Operation Smile co-founder Dr. William Magee
performed the nine-hour surgery. "She's healing as
expected and possibly doing better than expected."
Rayan suffered from ankylosis of the left
temporomandibular - a severe mouth deformity that
limited her ability to open her jaw because the
joint was basically fused. The small opening between
her teeth left her unable to ingest anything but
tiny bites or liquids.
She didn't go to school, because other kids made fun
of her. She didn't know how to read or write.
She had trouble sleeping, because she also had
difficulty breathing. She slept propped on pillows
on her knees or on her mother's lap.
And her problems eating stunted her growth. At age
7, Rayan weighs about 25 pounds - the weight of an
average 18-month-old toddler.
"Rayan was very unhappy," her mother said through
interpreter Gashaw Barzanji, who lives in York
County but is from the same city as Rayan and her
family. "It was very sad for her and the family.
"We never had a good life before the surgery."
As mom and daughter prepared to leave Iraq, Hama Ali
didn't tell Rayan about the surgery because she
didn't want her to be scared. Two previous surgeries
in Iraq had been painful and unsuccessful.
"We told her, 'You're going to go to America, and
we're going to give you gum,'" Hama Ali, who is 46,
said. "And you'll be able to chew it."
Hama Ali said she knew the surgery - during which
sections of skull were removed to reconstruct
Rayan's jaw and move it forward - had worked the
moment the bandages came off.
Rayan immediately opened her mouth. Her mother
cried. Then Hama Ali called her husband back home in
Iraq and told him to sacrifice two sheep - a
cultural tradition - and give them to the poor.
In Iraq, Hama Ali, her husband, Hussain - who works
in his city's electricity department and drives a
taxi part time - and their six children live in an
area that hasn't been damaged by the war.
But the war has touched them. The city - which Hama
Ali said is pro-American - is crowded with many who
have fled from southern Iraq. The economy has been
affected. And traveling outside the area is
dangerous.
When Rayan and her father traveled to Baghdad to
secure passports, they saw blood-stained streets. It
was unsafe to stay in a motel during their two-day
trip, so doctors put them up in a hospital room.
In America, "there's nothing to upset you," Hama Ali
said, smiling widely, through the interpreter.
"Everyone here is so lovely and friendly. Even if
they don't know you, they say hello to you."
But the thing that has made Hama Ali the happiest is
watching her daughter.
Rayan sleeps through the night. She sings.
She eats and drinks anything put in front of her.
Coco Krispies cereal with milk is a favorite.
"Our life is going to start from the beginning
again," said Hama Ali, who is scheduled to go home
with Rayan to Kurdistan-Iraq on Tuesday. "It's like
we are born again. It's a happy thing for our
family."
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