Raja Abdulrahim with a family's story: It has been a week since Noor Sabah had the final surgery on her jaw, and it is healing slowly. Slower yet to heal are the deep wounds of occupation and sectarian violence in her country, Iraq, to which 2-year-old Noor and her mother, Eman Mohamed, will return next week.
Mother and daughter came to the United States in February for Noor to have reconstructive surgery on her jaw, which never fully formed, leaving Noor with a partial deformation of her right cheek and hearing and breathing problems. The pair were hosted by Otisville native Jesse Damsky, who spent a year in Iraq with the Army Reserves, where he met Noor's father.
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