Ghorfat Almarah, The Joy Room

Ghorfat Almarah, The Joy Room began in the spring of 2010. There were many problems that could not be solved, the project was unsustainable and so, it was packed away after six months or so.

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Kayf al Haal, How Are You?

Kayf al Haal, How Are You? emerged from the Third Annual conference of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI), held October 8-9, 2011 in Erbil, the capital city of northern Iraq's Kurdistan region. Our goals were: to bring renewed focus and sustained international attention to the ongoing health crisis affecting children in Iraq, especially those suffering from cancer and leukemia; and to mobilize international partners to work with Iraqi doctors, hospitals and civil society organization in developing and sustaining a public health campaign to identify and meet the needs of pediatric cancer patients, their families and the doctors who care for them.

For more information on the role of the Iraqi Children's Art Exchange, see our Campaign Prospectus.

Baghdad Resolve: the Start-Up, 2012-2013

One year later, in September 2012 the campaign, working with long-time friends and colleagues Drs. Salma Al-Haddad and Mazin Al-Jadiry, we succeeded in inspiring and mobilizing a team of international partners to create: Baghdad Resolve: An International Collaboration to Improve Cancer Care in Iraq.

Our goals are to improve medical care and outcomes of pediatric cancer patients in Iraq; and to create opportunities for international partners to work with Iraqi doctors, hospitals and civilff society organizations in developing and sustaining projects and programs to identify and help meet the needs of pediatric cancer patients, their families and the doctors, nurses and medical staff who care for them.

Baghdad Resolve is a project of the Iraqi Children's Art Exchange.

Baghdad Resolve, 2013 - Present

In March 2013 I traveled with a team of five oncologists/hematologists from La Sapienza University in Rome, the Nurse DIrector from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and two oncologists from Boston Children's Hospital Cancer Center to Baghdad for a week of meetings, training and consultations. We were there to support the efforts and the work of our colleagues Dr. Mazin and Dr. Salma. We were the first international medical team to be invited to Medical City in twenty years. Below, the international team along with Dr. Mazin and Dr. Salma and the report from the visit.

In September 2015 Baghdad Resolve brought a team of two oncology doctors and two oncology nurses from Children's Welfare Teaching Hospital in Medical City Baghdad to Boston for a week of observation and training, and to attend the APHON (Assoc. of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses) Conference.