I've worked to bring Dr. Mona Nasir to the US for two years.
In March-May of 2003, I produced and videotaped in Jordan and Iraq for ABC News Nightline. I traveled from Amman to Baghdad five days after the US troops occupied the city. My assignment was to shoot footage of a private medical aid shipment and of Iraqi hospitals, caregivers, and civilian casualties. You can see some of the footage I shot here and here.
I made contact with US Army Col. (Dr.) Butch Anderson and he linked me up with Dr. Mona Nasir in the Ministry of Health. She was the Director, Nocosomial (Hospital-acquired) Disease for the entire country. Mona was my guide for the next 10 weeks -- a lovely woman, diplomatic and thoughtful.
But things did not turn out well for her...
Her work with the military and later with the Center for Disease Control did not go unnoticed. In 2005, she started receiving death threats.
Recall that in Lebanon, one of the ways Hizbollah came to power was through its control of local health clinics and, eventually, the health system. The power to dispense health care was pivotal in the growth of their influence in that country. So immediately when the US invaded Iraq, the Shia seized as many neighborhood clinics and regional hospitals as they could.
The death threats made clear Dr. Nasir was under surveillance. I wanted to come to Iraq and stay with her to follow up my story and to concentrate on the state of women's health care in the country three years after the invasion. She emailed me back an emphatic "No!" She said it was unsafe, that we would both be killed. So I never made that trip.
But I was increasingly worried about her safety. I emailed her for a list of US doctors she had worked with, her medical transcripts, her Iraqi internal citizen papers, and her Ministry of Health employment papers, all translated into English. Over a month, she emailed me back everything.
I made up six notebooks with all this information neatly stored into divided sections, including a statement of purpose. I sent them everywhere I could think of -- to no avail. As people sent back the notebooks, I sent them to new people. Several to workers in the State Department. In the end, I had two notebooks left.
In 2007, Mona emailed me that she had received a truly horrible death threat, one that terrified her. So she had decided to flee to Turkey. I sent her a notebook there.
The situation didn't look good. There are 4.7 Iraqi refugees; 2.7 million internally displaced, 2 million living in other countries. 1.4 million are in Syria. I certainly felt very discouraged every time I thought about Mona. When she would call me long distance from Turkey, I could hear the growing panic in her voice -- and it was all I could do to sound optimistic.
When Mona emailed me asking me to be her immigration sponsor (now called "anchor"), I agreed. It involves letting her stay with me for a month and some other help. You know, I can't say I threw open the French doors and sung out, "Oh, boy, I'm going to sponsor someone!" No, sadly, my immediate thoughts were: What's the liability, what will I have to do, do I really want someone else living in my space?
Over a week or so, I balanced...my convenience vs. her life. My comfort vs. her bureaucratic nightmare. I thought about how, if my life were threatened and I had to run to a neighboring country where I knew no one, how would I feel if someone I knew emailed me back, Sorry, it's really an inconvenience for me.
I thought: This is one of the tests you get in life that determine the kind of person you are...not the one you think you are, not the one you hope to be, not the one people perceive you to be. It's the person you actually are, as defined by your deeds.
I signed the papers. About five months later, I was asked to come to the office of the local International Rescue Committee. I went. I signed. And I waited. I was told Mona would come in September, earliest, possibly in October.
That's great! Four months off -- I hardly had to think about it. Then I received a call last week -- Mona is coming on Friday! This Friday.
So I ordered her cards with my address and phone number and her email address -- on gmail, btw. I thought she might have to tell it to people all the time and I remember how much trouble I have with numbers in other languages -- mix them up all the time.
I bought two new sets of sheets, cleared out some drawers and shelves, moved clothes from the closet in the 2nd bedroom. Whined about my single bathroom and cleared out some space there -- a whirlwind. Now I have to vacuum! hahaha
Well, life is full of surprises and all I can say is that I am very relieved and happy for Mona and okay with her staying until she feels comfortable, even if it goes to several months. I think I've found her a job teaching Arabic.
I hope she is happy and fulfilled here. I hope she can study and get her physician's license here. I hope for the very best for her.
If any of you have any thoughts about how I can help her adjust to life in the US, please do email me. I'm pretty sure it will be a shock. I think having death threats for the better part of five years leaves her with some PTSD, yes?
Thanks...and wish us both all the luck!