Word: omar
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...lost beyond the edge of pain. His younger brother and sister gaze at him, then look quickly away, a fog of panic filling their eyes as they contemplate their mad brother, the gloom of the tent, their possessions reduced to a teapot, a blanket and a few ragged clothes. Omar, their father, clears his throat and volunteers, "The boy, he has been like that since the bombing. He is disturbed, I think...
...Omar and his family come from Kirkuk, the northern Iraqi city that was captured by Kurdish guerrillas in late March and retaken by Iraqi forces about a week later. Omar decided to flee Kirkuk after he saw the Iraqi Mi-24 helicopters hanging like avenging demons on the horizon, unleashing their terrifying rocket fire and evoking the threat of what he feared most: chemical weapons that make every breath a draft of fire. Not only was Omar sure that the Iraqis would kill many Kurds in Kirkuk in reprisal, but he also knew that he would be in more trouble...
...zero cold, rain and snowstorms that left the children shivering uncontrollably. They marched high into the hills of Kurdistan along narrow mountain roads deep in slippery mud, thinking a thousand times that their world had come to an end. The worst moment came at a mobbed road crossing, where Omar and Talia, each with two children, were separated as they struggled aboard different trucks. Omar did not see his wife again for two days, and in his arms was their seven-month-old daughter, weakly sobbing for her mother's milk. Other nursing mothers saved the little girl's life...
...wretched as they are, Omar's family is among the blessed ones. They live in one of the thousands of tents pitched on the steep slopes of the Sirwan River valley, a few miles inside the Iranian border. The Iranian army provides shelter, bread every day, and a crude dispensary gives basic medical help, especially against rampant dysentery caused by the lack of clean drinking water. But Omar's family must make do with only one blanket to stave off the frigid nights. The terrible cold and disease claim young lives every day, a tragedy underscored by the cemetery...
Fatma 75 & Halphaouine & Omar Gatlato at 4 p.m. in the Carpenter Center...