This whole forum, and this subforum in particular can be a nice little nest of negativity, avarice, angst, suffering, and basicaly just nastiness. But, then again, anyone who came here knowingly knew this wouldnt be a picnic. Its because of what we're dealing with and trying to change, trying to stop... really, really bad shit.
After seeing children treated like crap, beat down, hurt, broken inside, and maybe even disfigured, I realy needed a little shot of positivity... but I didnt know it. I really should have realized it when I saw the new starwars flick and I saw a mirror of myself in Anakin Skywalker.
But, well, this post isnt about me! Its about someone I just happened to see by chance on Discovery Health. Zubaida Hassan. Anyone remember her? And btw, this isnt going to go like most stories you'll read in this forum, so just hang with me here.
There was an accident with a kerosene lamp that severely burned and disfigured her. Her chin seemed to have melted into her chest, her face was pulled downards from her eyes down her cheeks to her neckline, and her upper left arm was bound to her chest by scar tissue:
It seemed almost hopeless. She did heal and survive but nobody in that part of the world had the expertese to try to rehabilitate or reconstruct her.
Well, around febuary 2002 they contacted our guys in kabul for help. Our Military Doctors realized they coudlnt deal with this themselves, so they contacted the state department. *SURPRISE* Our government actually felt like HELPING a child this time! She got flown to L.A. for some therapy.
By the time I had flipped on the show after helping with the paper route, it was right about the time Zubaida was already admitted to the hospital and about to undergo her first operation. They wernet TOO ambitious, just cutting the scars so her head and neck wbere freed from her chest and her left arm wasnt bound to her torso.
The change was... immediate. She had a face again! She smiled and cried when she saw herself in ther mirror. I saw for the first time in a long time a child helped by our system instead of fucked over by it and I hadnt been so happy in a long, long time.
Anyway, her family had to go back to Afghanistan, while she was left to finish up her operations of skin grafts, scar removal, skin stretching and other physical therapy to get her muscles working again. She was lonely in the hospital and she got adopted by, well, the whole hospital staff. She quickly picked up on english and developed a little attitude all of her own. I think it shows just how damned resilient a child's spirit really is, to see someone bounce back that fast.
So, through the course of the show, I saw a child actually HELPED for once. Someone being loved by the people in her extended (adoptive) family and community, someone supported instead of put down and dominated. I saw someone being helped to rise up instead of being torn down. I saw the big beautiful eyes of someone who was feeling joy!
I degress... I probably wouldnt have been that moved by it if I hadnt lost my own siblings in 2003.
She eventually had the scarring mostly minimized, and regained mobility and the ability to develop naturally as she grows up. They even manged to fixed her musculature and minimize chest scarring so she could grow breasts when she grows into a woman and will fit in better.
I'm honestly still just shocked at the difference between what I see here so much, and what happens when human beings actually act like the good things they are deep on the inside when we're not being swaye by stupid hatreds, or bent to the will of some powerhungry maniac, or deluded by some cult or program.
This may be one of those rare, once-in-a-lifetime events, and it may only be one child, but it definitely cheered me up and I hope it cheers up the forum regulars who might be feeling jaded and down, and need to see someone actually be helped and nurtured and loved to help balance the usual horror stories and tear jerkers we've grown so calloused to.
I hope this cheers up the people here... her story really helped me perk up a little. :smile: Maybe you will, too.
To regard Christ as God, and to pray to him, are to my mind the greatest possible sacrilege.
--Leo Tolstoy, Russian revolutionary
