March 28, 2011

Global Medical Relief's Mission



While watching this story on 60 Minutes last night, I couldn't help but cry.  I felt sadness for the pain the boy has endured, grieved for his mother, who must have such mixed emotions of her own, and felt proud of the woman who is changing lives (who says ONE person can't make a difference?!?!).  In trying to explain why I was crying to Gracie, who was impatiently waiting for me to read her more Fancy Nancy, I ended up crying even more.  Once you have children of your own, you will understand how every child becomes your child, and thus every child's hurt becomes your child's hurt, and every child's joy becomes your child's joy, and this can lead to a LOT of crying!

While I was watching, I kept thinking about you, not as kids who might get hurt, but as kids who will grow up to make the world a better place.  I was thinking if one of you becomes a doctor, you would be the type of doctor to donate your time for something like this.  If one of you runs an airline, you would be the type of business person to donate free flights for people in need.  You never know where life is going to lead you, but I know that it will lead each of you to do good for others.  That is what keeps me working hard each and every day - the certainty that I have that you will all pay it forward.

I want you to watch this story on your own computer so you can hear and see it up close.  I know you will be as moved as I was.  After you've viewed, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with the class by commenting on this post.

19 comments:

  1. I was surprised at how moved I was by this! It's truly amazing how one woman could change 100+ children's lives. It also makes me apreciate where I live, and how lucky I am to be 'whole' with two arms and two legs. It also made me feel like I sometimes take everything for granite, I'm glad I watched this, it changed my perspective on a lot of things.

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  2. Wow. That story was really tragic and moving. I could not imagine putting my faith in someone's hands who I barely even knew. It was great to see how truly compassionate that woman was about children from another country. Sending "hate mail" is terrible, she is doing a great deed to our world. we shouldn't just care boaut children in America, we should show love to all the children in the world. That is what this video taught me.

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  3. This is a very powerful story. It is a real life example of how one person can make a difference. This phrase is tossed around as a motivational tool but to see it in action is moving. The fact that this woman receives hate mail says a lot about us as a country. We automatically assume that these innocent children will grow up to become terrorists. If we wish to make any progress as a global community we need to put aside preconceived notions. The image of this young boy after his first surgery is very upsetting. To have to face this painful operation at such a young age is something that is hard to imagine. The courage of Waadd his family, and the women who is helping him is admirable. This is a story that should continue to be shared.
    -Jake

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  4. Wow. This story was VERY interesting, and moving. I could never imagine what this little boy went through, and all of the other kids that the woman is helping. This organization sounds amazing and very interesting. I found it really interesting how this woman was getting sent "hate mail." That makes me very upset that people are so mean to do that. What this woman is doing, is AMESOME. I think that this woman is a really amazing and should NEVER stop what she is doing!

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  5. I definitely agree that this was a moving segment on 60 minutes. People never wish to be in a situation like that, and seeing the happiness on Waad's and his mother's faces made me very happy to know this ended well for them. I also thought very highly of the lady who founded this organization, for dealing with hate mail and starting this from her work closet takes a caring, strong, selfless person. And seeing her home-created organization help people's lives dramatically like they helped Waad's, makes this such a remarkable story.

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  6. When I was watching this video I felt very different. I can never think 10 or less years old child getting burn and getting through lots of surgery. I had my neck surgery when I was 12. It hurt me a lot but Waa had bigger surgery than me and his younger than me. I was terrified when I was watching this video. While I was watching I got very angry. I don’t know why people send the lady a hate emails. Because Waa was born in Iraq that doesn’t mean USA or other people can help them. I wish I could do something for the children that lost their legs or arms.

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  7. When my cousin John was I think 7 he had cancer in his leg, now he has a prosthetic leg. My dad says that he was the strongest little kid he ever saw because he was wiggling his toes the night after the surgery. I didn't know how stressful it could be since John got cancer many years before I was born so it must have been so hard on him and the rest of his family. But not only did Waad have one of his legs gone, but an arm and his face was distorted. I hope he is doing well.

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  8. As I was watching this video I felt sad as well. But the one thing that was said that will stick with me is when the doctor said, “I do this for the most selfish reason. I do this because it feels good.” I am glad that she is doing this for kids. And the people that say, “Why are you helping them,” should grow a heart.

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  9. This video was amazing. It made me sad and happy at the same time. Elise is truly an amazing woman and she has done so much for the children in the world. When Waad was crying bhefore going into surgery for the second time,I felt scared for him and I can remember the feeling I had just before I went into surgery. And when he went to Six Flags, I think that took so much bravery for him to do that. He's just a kid and he deserves to have a childhood and ride roller coasters and play soccer. I think that that is part of why Elise does what she does. I hope she'll continue doing these fenominal acts of kindness. generousity, and caring for a long time because she had changes the lives of many, many children.

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  10. Wow. I never realized how fortunate I am. I knew that there were kids in other places that didn't have as much, but I didn't know that kids my age,or even younger, could be injured so badly. When you are watching or listening to the news, all you hear about is the grown up people and how they are fighting and may be injured. You just assume that the kids are all in a safe place where nothing can harm them. Elise really helped me learn about all of the kids in need. I used to just think that kids in need were hungry, or needed clothes. I never thought of children needing arm and legs. Elise really made me a lot more thankful for what I have and where I live. Now I realize that not enough attention is brought to kids like Waad. Elise is doing an amazing job by making herself known and I think that having this on TV is REALLY going to help due to the fact that so many people watch TV. I will try to pass it on!

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  11. This story was truely amazing. It's remarkable how a woman with a dream can make such a huge difference and impact hundreds of kids in need. I'm glad that things are going fine with the one boy, but I surely am grateful that I don't have to go what he's going through. I tend to take things forgranted, but after watching this video, I'll most definitely be grateful that I'm, as Victoria said, 'whole.'

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  12. I thought it was really interesting to see how one person can change kid's life who has loss his leg, arm, and had his face burned. He was happy in the end because he got a chance to be able to live his life as a kid which is amazing for someone like Wad. I thought it was also pretty brave of him to go out in public and show himself in the healing process when he had the ballons in his face. Like they said some people need to be brave to go on a big water dip ride, but for Wad he felt that if he could go out show his face to the world as it was then he could certainly face the water ride. He was able to sit in the front seat.

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  13. I think that that was a really, really amazing story. I think that woman was really brave to start a small, but extremely life changing endeaver like that. Not a lot of people would actually go out into the world and try her hardest to help people. That takes skill, courage, and of course believing in yourself. There are a lot of people like Waad. War zones cover a lot of the Middle East and children and their families do live there. In an effort to stop war, we should slow down and focus on what the effects of it do to the people living there. Some people are also born missing some limbs or even all of their limbs. I think that it is really great how she wants to change that and these people the limbs that thhey deserve. I give that woman the best of luck to expand her organization and help more people.

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  14. The stories of children's past lives were very tragic, with the bombs and war happening around them, but it is a great thing that Elisa is doing for the children with medical problems. She is doing a fantastic deed for these young children that ultimately leads to a dramatic change, which enables them to live a normal childhood and adult life, as we can see in Waad's case, where after surgery, he was able to play soccer once again with a prosthetic leg. I hope Elisa can help many more children recover from their tragic wounds and I hope her charity grows so that she can help even more children.

    George

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  15. I think that this Sixty Minutes segment was very moving. It was very sad to hear the stories of those kids, especially Waad's story. He was minding his own business, playing soccer with a ball disguised as a bomb, then his whole life changed. I think that it is amazing that Elisa Montanti opened her heart to these strangers and helped them overcome their horrible wounds and helped them repair their lives.

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  16. That was such an amazing story! I can't imagine how that boy felt. He must have been so scared and intimidated by all the doctors doing things to his face and leg that he didn't completely understand. It's really great that that woman and his parents were there so that he could have someone to talk to and to explain what was going on.

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  17. This was such a great story, I can't say I cried but I did feel sad.
    After this woman takes care of these kids for so long, she must feel like they are her own children. I can't begin to imagine all the heartbreaks she's had to go through, and I feel genuinely sorry for her.
    I think those people who give her hate mail have never been to Iraq and have probably never had a disability in their life, so they have absolutely no right to talk to her like that. I mean, they don't even KNOW what these people have been through, and just because they're from another country who doesn’t like our country doesn't mean they don't have the right to be entitled to medical treatment here.
    Seeing other kids with these deformities makes me think a lot about how we all take what we have for GRANTED.
    I think we should all follow in the example of this woman, because what she did was selfless and caring. Bravo, bravo!

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  18. Wow. Watching this video was a moving experience. It is amazing how only one person can make a difference. That boy had a lot of courage going through all that surgery. I wish that the world would spend more money on this kind of stuff instead of spending it on war. Sometime, we as humans need to realise that if we want to progress as a race, then we need to realise what is for the greater good, not just for ourselves, but for the community.

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  19. This is very sad. How a kid his age is going to have to live like this forever. Something that was very shocking to me though, was she got hate mail while she was trying to help. How could they say this about just a little kid. I was very happy to see him in the end playing with all of his friends.

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