Teeba, 13, Zahra, 11, Ali, 9, Fatema, 7, & Muhammad, 4

“My father worked to protect the holy shrines in the city of Samarra. The terrorists came into the shrines wearing normal clothing. They kidnapped my father and a few others. The terrorists used to post their attacks on Facebook. They used to show pictures of who they kidnapped and who they killed. Everyone followed their page. A few days after my father had gone missing, we saw his body on their Facebook page. We recognized him from his clothes. That’s how we found out that he was killed,” Teeba said.

She added, “I was only eight years old at the time. I was in the second grade. My father used to help me with all my school work and used to push me to work hard so that I will become successful when I grow up. When I saw my father’s body, I fell unconscious for seven days.

“A few weeks after my father was killed, my mother got very sick. She went to the doctor only to find out that she has cancer. We don’t have any money to buy her medicine. It costs about $200 a month. We don’t even have anything close to that. Even if we did, she wouldn’t even buy medicine with the money. She will only buy food so that she can feed us.

“My mother is scared for us to go and find work. People take advantage of orphans in all sorts of ways. They think that just because we are poor and don’t have a father, we would do anything to make some money. But that is not true. My mother is scared that we will be left on the streets after she dies from her illness.”

“Our father used to love us. We remember how happy he was when he used to come home and see us. But the terrorists didn’t let his love stay with us. They took it away from us so early in our life. We all get really sad when we see the other children playing with their fathers. It’s really hard to be without a father,” Zahra, Ali, and Fatema added.

“I wish I had met my father. My mother was pregnant with me when he was killed. [Muhammad begins to cry] I’m crying because my siblings always talk about how much he loved them. They always talk about how much fun they used to have with him. I never met him. I always wonder if he would have loved me the same way. I will never know how it feels to have a father. I will never know what a father’s love feels like,” Muhammad said.

The above represents one of many orphan stories by victims in war-torn regions. Your support can make a difference for orphans like Teeba and her siblings. Make a contribution today by clicking here.