Heartbreak is without boundaries for parents with critically ill children. Those in Iraq or in the United States feel the same pain. Yet parents in Iraq may need to contend with the fact that the conditions killing their children could be cured in a wealthier country.

Sometimes, though, these parents don’t have to see their children die young. Instead, they get help from organizations such as Gift of Life International. This nonprofit, founded and operated by Rotarians, has allowed more than 9,000 children in about 60 developing countries to undergo open-heart surgery.

Two children who received help through Gift of Life are Masuma Hmod and Ali Ayad Karim. Both of the children were born in Iraq, where doctors discovered they had a severe congenital heart condition called tetralogy of Fallot, which causes oxygen-poor blood to flow through the heart. A simple walk down the street could turn Ali's face blue. It's a condition that’s routinely corrected with surgery in wealthy countries such as the United States. After the surgery, patients can go on to lead normal, healthy lives.

Saving humanity

In August 2005, Ali, then 10, and Masuma, then 1, flew to Chicago to undergo open-heart surgery, arranged and funded through a partnership of Rotarians, Muslim community leaders, and Gift of Life.

"We were kind of wary – this was new territory for us," admits Rotarian George Harris, chair of the District 6450 (Illinois, USA) Gift of Life program and a pediatrician at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, where the operations were performed. But any trepidation was quickly dispelled, he says, by the dedication of Rotarians and volunteers at the Mosque Foundation, which handled translations, transportation, and housing. The Rotarians also partnered with the Iraqi American Association of Illinois and several Catholic groups, and they donated flights through United Mileage Plus partners.

"We are all traveling in the same direction," says Dr. Yacoub Al-Ubaid, originally from Baghdad. "Rotary doesn't discriminate, whether a child is from Russia or China or Iraq. That is my philosophy too."

Saving lives

While Ali's chest was being cut open by surgeons in Chicago, more than 40 people gathered at his home in Baghdad, his aunt says. "They prayed through the night," she recalls. "They kept calling the hospital. Finally, their phone rang. Ali was doing fine."

Next, it was Masuma's turn, and her family also got good news. "She's drinking from the bottle now," her mother reports happily. "She doesn’t turn blue when she laughs."

In mid-November 2005, after Ramadan and the children's return to Iraq, the Rotarians in Orland Park (where Harris was club president at the time) honored the volunteers. Kifah Mustapha, imam of the Mosque Foundation, told the audience: "We share common interests, and we have common beliefs. The Koran tells us, whoever helps to save one life, indeed, it is as if he saved humanity itself."