Date: 05/11/2021

Suffering Children and the Drawers of Happiness

It is 10 km to the school. The place is in a sunny and dry village in Yemen. The road is rough. There is no transportation to take my children to their schools. This is the road that my children walk through to school. Three years of suffering from this distance to learn. Not just the distance but also the weather, and people teasing them because they have Lamellar ichthyosis (inherited type). Most of the people refuse to shake my children’s hands or hug them. They are afraid of such disease. This makes my children feel ashamed. The weather hurts my children. As a father, there is nothing to do to help my children. It is difficult to stop people from teasing and there is no money to buy medical drugs to treat my children or at least to fight the weather.

What I can do is just to support my children on how to deal with such teasing, laughing or walking away from them. The biggest difficulty forced me was the weather and the needing for money to buy drugs at least to help my children handle the weather, because my financial status is very critical. I have no salary. My country is in a war and both sides refuse to give us our salaries. So, I decided to research for treatment or any solution that helps me to take care of my children. Suddenly, my heart started dancing and a smile was on my face. Do you know why? Because I was reading the FIRST website. The solution was there.

I sent them the first message for clarification. I did not believe the reply. They said yes you can apply. Still, I was in a doubt. In May last year, they sent me a fund. Do you know what happened after that? On that day, I and my wife did not sleep because of happiness. My children’s lives changed. We bought them the drugs and the medical preparation they need. Yes, there is no cure for ichthyosis but their lives improved. The next year they went to their school with happiness on their faces. I hope this happiness continues this year.

Finally, my message to the donors. Your donations draw smiles on our children faces. If you do not see it or feel it, we feel it and we see it on our children faces. Continue your donations to FIRST. You and FIRST are the drawers of happiness on the children faces all over the world.