Solace for the Children
<p>Milad, 12, explains the meaning of the Afghanistan flag as Mansur, right, and Jon-Marc watch closely at a Coeur d'Alene park during a recent activity with Solace for the Children, a group organized to provide health and healing tools to children of Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Tracy Nielsen, of Coeur d'Alene, helps Afghan children Mansur and Suhila sign their names to a tee-shirt before tie-dying.</p>
<p>Marty Williams, family nurse practitioner with Coeur d'Alene Pediatrics, examines Hasibullah, of Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Karen Nielsen shows Marwa, 7, the shirt they tie-dyed with a group of host families and other kids with Solace for the Children.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - A 12-year-old boy from Afghanistan held a small American flag in his hands Monday as he stood near a picnic table at Sunshine Meadows Park in Coeur d'Alene.
The child, Milad, pointed to the stars and stripes on the flag as he spoke, in his native tongue, to four younger Afghan children seated at the table. He explained the meaning of the symbols, translating for the younger children what he had just learned.
Milad then held a larger Afghan flag and, speaking in English to several American children and adults also seated at the picnic table, the boy shared what the black, red and green stripes on his country's flag stand for.
"The black is for the past, a dark time for us," he said.
Red represents his country's fight for independence and the blood that has been shed for it, and green stands for the future, Milad explained.
The five Afghan children, ranging in age from 7 to 12, are in North Idaho for six weeks, staying with host families in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls, as they undergo treatment for various medical conditions. The children's visit is sponsored by a local chapter of Solace for the Children, a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to helping Afghan children receive medical and dental care in the U.S.
The lesson about the flags was part of a Fourth of July week activity coordinated by Solace volunteer Jocelyn Stott of Coeur d'Alene. The kids learned the history of the U.S. holiday, and made red, white and blue tie-dyed shirts. Stott talked about how, like humans, no two dyed shirts are exactly alike, although they are created from the same elements.
"The things that make you who you are, are who you are," Stott said to the kids, and then shared three things about herself: "I'm a woman, a mother and I'm a Christian."
With Milad translating for her, Suhila, 10, told the group a few details about herself: "I am a girl. I am not in my country. I love my country."
As the Afghan children laughed and played with the American kids at the park on Monday, there was little evidence of any cultural differences, nor of the violence and poverty the visiting children left behind in their homeland.
Suhila and the other little girl in the group, Marva, a 7-year-old, sported pink sunglasses and wore sundresses. The younger child wore pink pants also, in accordance with her family's religion. Her little arms were dotted with temporary "Hello Kitty" tattoos.
"We've had more than 150 children come through the states," said Jill Ledford, a Coeur d'Alene Solace volunteer who serves as the organization's North Idaho program coordinator.
Medical resources are scarce in Afghanistan, Ledford explained, with just one doctor per 50,000 people. The Press agreed to publish the story without the children's last names or the names of their provinces, to protect the kids and their families from possible retaliation by the Taliban when they return home.
Marva is in the U.S. for dental treatment. Several of her teeth are broken and have turned black.
This is Suhila's second visit to the states sponsored by Solace for the Children. The little girl and her sisters were seriously injured in a suicide bomber blast, and Suhila came to the U.S. last year to have shrapnel removed from her leg and ankle. The child has now developed an infection in her ankle that is potentially life-threatening and cannot be treated in Afghanistan.
Milad has a vascular disorder, with a painful hemangioma that's causing blood to pool in his leg. His family was unable to find a surgeon in Afghanistan or Pakistan willing to treat the condition. Finding treatment in the U.S. has also been a challenge, but the group has located a vascular surgeon who will likely help Milad.
Stefanie Byrns' family is hosting the boy at their home in Post Falls.
"There are no barriers between children," Byrns said.
Milad and her daughter, Sydney, also 12, have become close, poking fun at and teasing each other, as if they were actual siblings.
Riley Jo Anderson, 10, was at the park Monday, playing with the children. Her family will be hosting an interpreter in their Coeur d'Alene home.
The little girl, and her brother, Byron, spent a lot of time with another Solace child visitor from Afghanistan, Rahim, who stayed with Jill Ledford's family last year.
"I think it's a good idea to do Solace. I didn't get to know Rahim as well as my brother, but I learned more about Afghanistan from him," Riley Jo said.
She said she has learned, from the Afghan children's stories, that things aren't "as friendly" in Afghanistan as they are in the states.
Rahim received treatment for injuries he sustained from a landmine planted by the Taliban. It exploded while he was riding on the handlebars of his cousin's bicycle, Ledford said. Rahim lost a leg. His cousin didn't survive.
There are two other boys staying in North Idaho this summer, Mansor, 12, and Hassib, 9.
Mansor is being treated for a clubbed foot and several other congenital abnormalities.
Due to a dislocated hip, Hassib has difficulty walking. One of his feet is completely turned onto the side when he steps on it.
Despite his uneven gait, the boy kept moving around the picnic table during the activities taking place at the park on Monday. He popped his head in where he could, and looked around, smiling mischievously.
Hassib's host family mom, Mistie Lamb, of Coeur d'Alene, said he doesn't always do as he's told.
"Then I realized, he's been left on his own a lot, to his own devices," she said.
Children with disabilities are generally unable to attend school in Afghanistan. Lamb said they're working with him, and his behavior is beginning to level out, that he's settling in.
"It's just been so amazing. I can't even put into words what it's like to be part of that," Lamb said.
Jill Ledford experienced a similar situation with Rahim last year. Now, she hears from his mother that the boy has become a role model in their neighborhood, and can now communicate with the U.S. soldiers.
"He's actually a peace ambassador in his village at 12 years old," Ledford said.
All the children's medical care is being provided at no cost by doctors and dentists in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls.
The host families receive no compensation for providing homes for the kids for their six-week stay in North Idaho.
You can help the children
The cost to bring a child to the Inland Northwest from Afghanistan is $4,500, which covers airfare, visas and an interpreter to travel with the kids.
Solace for the Children North Idaho/Spokane will hold a fundraiser July 25 to help bring more Afghan children to the region for medical care. A Night in Persia Dinner and Auction will take place at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn, 506 W. Appleway Ave. Tickets can be purchased online at www.solacenispo.com or by mail: Solace for the Children, P.O. Box 1813, Hayden, ID 83835.
Volunteers are also needed to help support the host families and provide other services for the group.
Info: jill.ledford@solaceforthechildren.org or www.facebook.com/S4tc.NIdaho.Spokane