I'm not in the least bit ashamed to say that I shed more than a few tears the first time I read this story and saw the pre & post attack pictures of 5-year-old Youssif on CNN.com a couple days ago. Sometimes, I find the things we as human beings are simply capable of doing to eachother is just......well, unfathomable I guess is the best word.
Five-year-old Youssif is scarred for life, his once beautiful smile turned into a grotesquely disfigured face -- the face of a horrifying act by masked men. They grabbed him on a January day outside his central Baghdad home, doused him with gas and set him ablaze.
Yet, out of this terrible tragedy that showcased the very worst we are capable of - pure hatred, indescribable cruelty and a desire to see others suffer - we thankfully have the opportunity to show the polar opposite side of human nature - the side of compassion.
This article that originaly ran on CNN.com this past Wednesday tells the story of five-year-old Youssif, an Iraqi boy who was set on fire by masked men while playing outside of his Baghdad home in January 2007. Like myself, thousands of other readers absorbed gut-wrenching passages like this:
"He's become spiteful, I am not sure why," said his mother, Zainab. "He is jealous of everyone. If I say the slightest thing to him, he cries. He's sensitive."
See photos of Youssif before and after the attack (Warning: some of the pictures are graphic and more than a little depressing)
Even things like eating have become a chore. His face contorts when he tries to shovel rice into his mouth, carefully angling the spoon and then using his fingers to push the little grains through lips he can no longer fully open.
He has also become jealous of the baby sister he used to dote on. "I sit sometimes at night and cry," Zainab said, her voice heavy with guilt. "If only I hadn't let him go outside, if only I hadn't let him play."
It was on January 15 that masked men attacked her boy, their identities still unknown. Zainab said she was upstairs at the time.
"I heard screaming. I thought someone was fighting or something," she said.
She ran downstairs, saw her son and fainted. When she came to, she barely recognized her child. "His head was so swollen, you couldn't see his eyes, and his nose was pushed in."
"There was blood," she added, shuddering slightly. "The skin was melted off."
and wanted to know if anything could be done to help.
Thankfully, the outpouring of support and desire to help was so everwhelming that CNN ran a follow-up article the very next day where they relayed this wonderful piece of news:
The Children's Burn Foundation -- a non-profit organization based out of Sherman Oaks, California, that provides support for burn victims locally, nationally and internationally -- has agreed to pay for the transportation for Youssif and his family to come to the United States and to set up a fund so you can donate.
The foundation says it will cover all medical costs -- from surgeries for Youssif to housing costs to any social rehabilitation that might be needed for him. Surgeries will be performed by Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon with the affiliated-Grossman Burn Center who is donating his services for Youssif's cause.
Heart-warming passages like these went a long way towards mending the broken hearts from the day before:
When informed of the news in Baghdad, Youssif ran around his house, saying, "Daddy, daddy, am I really going to get on a plane?!"
Youssif's father was also cheered by the news. "I feel like I am going to fly from happiness," his father told CNN's Arwa Damon, who reported the story on what happened to Youssif.
And getting back to where WE come in:
Others pleaded for CNN to act. "CNN, if you put this on for us to read, then you should allow us to donate," wrote Brian Quinn.
Right on, Brian. Let's prevent the sadistic SOB's who did this from negatively impacting Youssif's life forever.
And thankfuly, now that The Children's Burn Foundation has graciously offered to pay for and perform the many surgeries that Youssif will need so his mother can once again see him smile, there is something we can do.
And that something is to DONATE.
IMPORTANT: Scroll down on the main donation page and there is a drop-down menu that will read 'General Donation'. Please select 'Youssif's Fund' from that drop-down menu before you donate.
If we can salvage at least one thing from this catastrophic disaster known as the Iraq War, let it be that when things such as this happen - when such acts of unimaginable cruelty and violence are inflicted upon a child - let it be that we did the very least that compassionate people can do, which in this case is to help provide the financial means necessary for this Godsend-of-a-non-profit to carry out it's mission.
As it says on the CBF's website, your donation is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE (it dosen't say up to what amount a donation is tax deductible, so I don't know if there is even a limit or not), so there's really no reason that if you could find $5 to throw Darcy Burner's way(and I am speaking as someone who did just that!) you can't spare at least a TAX-DEDUCTIBLE $5 donation to the Children's Burn Foundation in order to help give a little boy his life back, relieve his parents of their anguish, and give his baby sister back her loving, protective big brother.
Let's help put a smile on Youssif's face again.
PS - and may God (or whatever higher power you pray to) bless the good people at the Children's Burn Foundation for their generosity and compassion.