A story from one of the young volunteers in “We Build Hope” project,  a collaboration between TEDxBaghdad Foundation and Al-Ta’awan Charity Association

It was my first experience…

It was a dream, or a wish that is in my mind. Its truthfulness made me cry yet its hope made me happy, I felt it close to me, but I cannot find it.

I  was looking for it in the eyes of people, I read tens of books looking for it, I saw a lot of people talking about it, where is it? What is it? Is it money? A profession? Or a city perhaps? But I found out that a lot of the rich people do not have it and a lot of people with high professions miss it, as well did the people who lived in the most beautiful countries … so, what is it?

While I was surfing the internet the other day, I googled the word “orphans”, and I found that the orphans of Iraq made most of the headlines, so I randomly added this guy and read on his page this call for help for his young sick daughter!

I sent him a message saying that “I want to help!”, exactly on March of last year, and I had some little contributions to the charities and volunteer work until the hard season of winter came down with its flooding rains, destroying most of the poor people’s house-roofs, and here it started, the idea to build the roofs for the poor people’s houses! And the first attempt was to repair the roof of “Um Abdulla” house, so I went to the Association the next Friday morning and entered the main hall to find five people waiting for the same reason, to help in repairing Um Abdulla’s house, so I got to know them in the public transportation on our way to her house.

Um Abdulla’s prayer for us, after we finished our work on repairing the roof, had a major effect on us and made us quite happy with what we did, and I was really happy at that moment for what I did, which made me feel like I literally pulled the happiness and gave it to that poor Um Abdulla in a house where hope has been killed so many times before.

I have never felt so happy before, I found the wish that I have been looking for, I found “happiness” when I helped in changing the lives of the poorest people, I learnt something that day, “I needed the poor more than they needed me”, and if everyone helped one another, we will have a society free of poverty, filled with happiness, and that is why I volunteer for the poor.