Monday, June 10, 2010 » A few weeks ago I met Mohammad Star, a ten-year-old boy who had heart surgery last November.
To get to Mohammad’s house, we drove through the mountains. For someone who has lived her whole life in the flattest part of America (Northwestern Indiana), seeing mountains on all sides of me and driving up the winding road to get to a village seemed unreal and euphoric. It felt like I was watching a movie – like I was not really there.
Mohammad’s house, like the ones surrounding it in the tiny mountain village, is made of dirt the same color as the ground. We climbed up narrow stairs into their sitting room, which also served as a kitchen; and Mohammad’s mom serves us food. She set out platters of wild cucumbers, watermelon, fruit juice and pastries. As we ate, Mohammad sat close next to his younger siblings, looking up at us timidly.Our Iraqi coworker Awara somehow got Mohammad to talk and show his toy car.
Awara asked about the chickens running around outside their home. Mohammad raised 14 chickens from a hen and a rooster - all on his own - which he proudly showed me and the other interns. He and his younger siblings pose for pictures with the village and national flag waving in the background.
To see how life-saving surgeries gave Mohammad Star the opportunity to live out his life was something that I will never forget.