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Letters From Iraq

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27 Sept. 2003
Dear Jo and Family and Others, This was our day to pack up our stuff and travel to Suliminiya. What lovely country we traveled through. We did take a bit of a circuitous route due to some happenings in a city we normally would have traveled through. I know a bit more now about why Donna likes this country so well. In fact I took several pictures of Koya where her friend Marilyn was buried. Took a picture of a hill that has a cemetery on it and an old fortress nearby. Maybe it is the spot she told us about. What a beautiful river is the Ducon with its depth, rapids, and large flow of water. There are so many things to see that are different from back home. Talked briefly with an American soldier here in Sulamanya tonight. (Note that my spelling varies and indeed the people here pronounce the city in at least two differing ways.) We walked and visited a large bazaar this evening and will go to eat in a bit. Saw the remnants of several villages destroyed by Saddam in about '86-87 according to our Iraqi helpers. Saw sheep and goats galore, donkeys, turkeys, geese, etc. Don't see much wild bird life. Wish you could all be seeing these things too. We are constantly reminded of realities by the many checkpoints, the multitude of guns, and the reminders by our Kurdish friends to be cautious. Had a gorgeous sunset this evening and hope for a good nights rest.
Much love dear wife and family and friends, Ken

29 Sept. 2003
Dearest Jo, Family and Friends, We had our first presentations to Drs. and nurses here in Sulaminiah and it went well. We find the quality of physicians and nurses very high here in S. and much more equipment than there was in Arbil. However, the reality of ambulance services and early interventions seems unreal and not yet in place but very possible in the not-to-distant future. It will be a challenge making it a worthwhile program. If I were to describe Sulaminiyah it might be as "the city that said no," first to Islamic fundamentalism and then in the early 90's to Saddam. The inner part of the city yet has rubble and pockmarked houses. It is being made over into a park.
We had a very interesting trip to S. across hilly and mountainous country with small green valleys with their tiny villages with houses made of rocks, blocks and mud and roofs often appearing a mixture of sticks and mud. We passed many herds of sheep and goats. There were some areas marked as having land mines.
Last night we visited a small Christian group that sang and prayed together. There were lots of outstanding people among them from a wide spectrum of nationalities. They mostly spoke in English and sang the same songs that we sing at our meeting in K Falls. I heard several most intriguing stories. Projects that people are working on include schooling for kids, schooling-literacy for women, rehabilitation, etc. One teacher told me of finding a bomb under her car. Generally we find people here in Kurdistan most grateful for America being here. Knowledgeable Kurds view the general news media as being very biased against them.
Well, I must close. Love to you all dear family and friends, Ken

Oct 1, 2003
Dear Jo, We had good classes today and there seems to be much enthusiasm among the very excellent Kurdish Drs. and Nurses. Tomorrow I will have four classes on unstable supraventricular tachycardias.
The city has been rather smoggy but today there are some scattered clouds and a breeze makes the mountains easier to see. We have thought of taking a drive toward a village near the Iranian border, but our drivers feel strongly it is not advisable as there are radicals who tend to slip across the border quite often. We do plan to stay in Sulimaniya until Sunday P.M. and then return to Arbil.
Did I tell you that I did get to visit with Peter Gruscka at length earlier this week. What a remarkable person he is. He worked as a TV reporter-correspondent for many years, saw the tragedy in the world, and then decided he must leave the easier life behind and be active in God's work in Kurdistan in 1991. He left for a couple of years after the tragedy of his wife, Marilyn, dying abruptly. He went through a time of deep depression before returning from Holland. He is working with his NGO on illiteracy especially. among women, and has a goodly number of people working with him. What a very gentle spirit he has. He is very oriented towards nonviolence but feels that perhaps the present happenings have potential for good in this part of the world. He feels that there might have been better ways to find help for the many battered and beaten people but hopeful, as all the people of Kurdistan seem to be.
Saw a young lady yesterday along with Matt Turney who has a large ascending aortic aneurysm and cardiomyopathy. Workup here is very difficult and she probably is too far along to be surgically reparable aneurysm-wise. The young Dr. taking care of her had tears in his eyes as he presented her to us and realized the seriousness of the situation. I certainly appreciated seeing his intense compassion. Once again we see people much like us.
The head of the Med department at the Med school here told me yesterday of many of his dreams including being able to get needed meds to take better care of cardiac patients (several that we take for granted are not available to them); ongoing training in emergency services with availability of ambulances as well as in an ED and in the hospital; the changing of the system of med delivery in several basic ways; better equipment, especially training in cardiac cath, angioplasty, etc.; the hope that they could someway be allied with an American med school.
We are healthy so far. Valarie has a cold and feels miserable today. Thank you for your prayers. We are careful and our Kurdish friends are very attentive to this area. Much love and prayers, Ken

Oct. 2, 2003
Dear Jo, Thank you so much for the note and I also appreciate the several others who have sent so many kind notes. They give me a boost. We did have a rip-roaring good time at the Hospital here in Sulimaniya today. I had my final four classes on treatment of unstable supraventricular tachycardias. We had speeches and handed out certificates of achievement with gold seal and all such. I got the privilege of making the speech for our ACLS group. I just wish you, dear wife, and all my friends could be here. The people are so hungry to remain free and to move out of the stalemate and worse they have experienced in the last 15 years. We will be working with 8 of the group, picked to be trainers of hopefully many more in the next three days. Friday is the Holy day here so our sessions will be on Saturday and Sunday. We will return to Arbil to do more training sessions next week.
NWMTI is planning to make a book out of the stories coming from Iraq, so perhaps I will get to be a contributor.
We talked today also with several U.S. soldiers, one from Oregon. They of course are homesick but are working with Iraqis to train them in hopefully guarding the pipelines. They always appreciate such talks and we do too.
Much love, Ken

Oct. 3, 2003
Dear Jo and Family and Others, This was our free day. Friday is the Muslim holy day in Kurdistan and so we will be having our final classes here in Sulaimania Saturday and Sunday for those chosen to be instructors in acute cardiac life support. Then we will be going back to Arbil, (alias Erbil and Irbil) for our final several days of instruction. As one might expect the powers that be had much of the input about who should be included in those final classes but we did make some suggestions about whom to include.
We drove up into the mountains to the NE of Sulaimania toward the Iran border and saw some lovely views. Our Kurdish helpers are very cautious re our safety and refused to take us far in that direction.
Then we drove to a large reservoir and some, (I guess Otto is "some") swam and most went for a boat-ride. I spent most of my time talking to a Kurdish man who fled to England some twenty years ago when Saddam was busy gassing thousands of people and destroying villages. He and his brother were busy fishing, but not catching. It was windy and the water was rough so apparently the fishing was affected. But a day fishing is better than most other days ... . There are always so many sights to see that all of you would enjoy too. Women in bright robes carrying jars or baskets on their heads, A Kurdish man in their typical baggy pants and shirt, squatting by the road. Behind his typical neatly clipped black mustache is a brown deeply lined face under a grey turban.
Crossing the busy two or three lane street from our hotel down to the internet cafe we mostly use is an adventure in itself. The lanes vary as they are unmarked and the traffic is fast accompanied by much horn blowing. We dash to small blocks of cement about 14 inches wide in the center of the street and totter there a while trying to stand straight and holding in our tummies until there is an opening from the other direction, and dash again. I'm thankful I can yet dash. The lanes are of course unmarked so the number depends on how many cars are squeezing through.
The telephone and electric lines along the roads are very complex. It appears that when one goes kaput they just string another one not bothering to take the defunct one down.
Love to you all, Ken