Fundraiser: 20 y/o burn victim of Syrian war, receiving treatment at Shriner's Hospital

SUMMARY: Marwa and Safa are victims of ISIS and civil war. When a bomb went off near their apartment, Marwa suffered near-fatal burns on the top half of her body. From 09/2022 through fall 2023 the renowned Shriners Children's Hospital Boston is offering free reconstructive surgeries and treatment for Marwa. Our friends in Cambridge are hosting them and are raising funds to help cover their living expenses.

THE LONG STORY OF MARWA & SAFA

Marwa and Safa A. are two 20-year-old twin sisters born in 2002 in Aleppo?as the oldest of seven children. On a?life-changing day in February 2016?a?bomb exploded outside their home and ignited the kerosene tank of a water heater in their bathroom.?Then 13-year-old Marwa?was just getting ready for her weekly hot shower and?became?engulfed in flames causing severe third-to fourth degree burns on her face and upper body.

Her father rushed her to a Turkish hospital where she was given a?5% chance of survival. Fearing for their lives, and seeking proper treatment for Marwa the entire family uprooted everything and resettled to Turkey for one year, where she received a number of live-saving skin graft transplants. In 2017 the family was?granted asylum refugee status in Erlangen/Germany, where the entire family has been living since.

Marwa's doctors in Germany quickly?recommended her case to the?Shriners Children's Hospital Boston, the world's foremost treatment center for minors with severe burn trauma. This non-profit hospital offers free-of-charge reconstructive and orthopedics care for pediatric patients from all over the world. In late 2018 Marwa was lucky and accepted as a patient amongst many applicants.

However, the enactment of the?Presidential Proclamation 9645?– or "Travel Ban Restriction" – indefinitely banned visitors from 7 countries from entering the USA and?Marwa and her father were therefore denied their US travel visa applications and could not access Shriners offered services. The?two US Senators from Massachusetts?– Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey – wrote a letter of support (08/27/18). A British daily newspaper published an article "Syrian girl disfigured by bomb attack refused US visa under Trump travel ban" (The Guardian 01/18/19). And a Boston public radio station picked up her story (WBUR 90.9 FM 01/29/19). It did not matter.

Four years later the travel ban was abolished, which brought back the hope for Marwa to be treated at the Shriner Hospital. Following Shriner's requirements that one adult family member must accompany an international patient Marwa's parents applied for a US entry visa along with the now legally adult twin sisters Marwa and Safa.?In July 2022 Marwa and Safa received notification that they were granted a?temporary B2 visa for medical treatment?at the Shriner Hospital!!?However, the visa application for both parents went unanswered.

With minimal English skills and zero financial resources, no local support system, and no housing solution, Marwa and Safa's family decided that?both twin sisters would have to travel alone to a foreign country in pursuit of reconstructive and esthetic procedures no longer available to Marwa in Germany.

In Sept. 2022 our family became part of their story when we volunteered to provide the girls with free lodging and food in our home for a scheduled 4-month visit. However, shortly after their arrival,?the Shriners Children's Hospital extended their free, monthly offer for reconstructive procedures through Nov. 2023. Specifically, Marwa will be receiving:

• regular laser treatment to soften her leathery skin texture
• Z-plasty surgeries to make massive scars from skin transplants more flexible
• hand surgery to reconstruct disformed fingers
• eyelid surgery to allow sleeping with closed eye lids
• facial surgery to allow mouth opening beyond 2" diameter

In Germany, Marwa would have qualified maybe for one procedure per year! With this incredible offer, immediate efforts were launched with the German and US immigration authorities to extend their asylum travel permission and their US medical visas, respectively. With Germany's official asylum extension already granted, the Shriner Hospital is currently managing the US Visa extension.

However, co-habiting for an extended stay was never something our family and the twin sisters had planned nor budgeted for.?We jointly agreed that finding furnished housing for Marwa and Safa was in everyone's best interest. And since they arrived without any financial resources it was clear that we would need to launch a massive fundraising campaign to cover at least 12 months of living expenses.

• Privately we were able to raise $4,500.
• Friends offered us a discounted 2BR/1bath rental apartment which we have fully furnished 100% through in-kind donations from neighbors and friends. We are now looking for a female roommate to split the rent and utility costs.
• We budgeted $30,000 in living expenses for rent, utilities, food, unrelated medical bills, and some spending money to finance them through the fall of 2023. Once we secure a roommate the fundraising goal will drop to $20K.
• Any unused funds will be donated to the Shriners Children's Hospital Boston.

Our family has been blessed to come to know Marwa and Safa as optimistic, persistent, charming young women and their culture, religion and food.?We hope you can help us support them so that Marwa can take advantage of the generous offer from Shriners Children's Hospital Boston to its fullest.

Here is the link to their Fundraising page: https://gofund.me/19a29589