This is the family that arrived in Connecticut on June 30, 2009.

 

 

The family consists of father Mustafa, mother Mona, and three daughters:  Saja, Lina, and Maha.  They fled Iraq in May, 2006, and they have been in Beirut, Lebanon since then.
 

Mustafa (age 66) is university-educated, and worked as an Iraqi government official.  He speaks English well.

 

Mona (age 48) has some higher education, although we don’t know her field, .  She speaks some English now – a good foundation for learning more.
 

Saja (age 20) completed grade 11.  She will probably want to continue her education although she may have to work to help support the family.  She speaks only some English now, so improving her English will be the prerequisite for any further education or employment.
 

Lina (age 16) is enrolled in grade 10 at Amity Sr High School,  She will need to take English as a Second Language in school, because she has only begun to learn English.
 

Maha (age 12) is enrolled in grade 7 at Amity Jr High School.  She speaks a little English, and a little French (which she probably picked up in Lebanon).
 

They apparently have no friends or relatives in the U.S. who are in a position to help them when they arrive, so they will depend completely on IRIS and on their co-sponsors and new friends to help them get off to a good start.

  

The family is officially recognized by the U S State Department as REFUGEES from Iraq which means that they were in danger of physical harm if they had remained in Iraq.  This may have been because they supported the United States efforts in Iraq or were sympathetic to the U S way of thinking.  They fled Iraq in June 2006 and have been in Beirut, Lebanon, since then.  The U S State Department attempts to resettle REFUGEES in this country through a network of agencies.  In Connecticut, one of those Agencies is the Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) located in New Haven.  IRIS is the official sponsor and is responsible to the State Department for the care and settlement of refugee families.  We, at the First First Church of Christ in Woodbridge, together with assistance, help, and support from the First Church of Christ in Bethany, and the whole Amity community, have agreed to act as CO-SPONSORS.