LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For Suemia Elhareiz, the decision to help a Palestinian refugee was never really a difficult choice.
“I signed up for this December 2023 and never heard back,” she said from her home in Lexington. “My sister in Sacramento had a kid come, so I applied again and within a week they replied. I was jumping and screaming [with excitement]," she added.
Monday night shortly after 10, Elhareiz will meet 13-year-old Mustafa. Mustafa is from Gaza where he lost his leg in a bombing months ago during the war between Israel and Hamas.
Mustafa is one of eight children coming to the United States to receive care after being wounded during the war. After landing in Chicago on Monday afternoon they will go their separate ways, while Mustafa and his mother will come to Lexington to live with Elhareiz and her family while he receives treatment at Shriners Children's Hospital.
“We feel guilty for sleeping on a comfortable bed, for having food in the pantry and a warm home,” Elhareiz explained. “I'm embarrassed to have them in my house, in a sense, to see everything my kids have, living in a normal life."
Now, she’ll have a chance to share those blessings with Mustafa and his mom, who had to leave behind her seven other children to make sure Mustafa was given this opportunity.
“I can't imagine choosing to leave her whole family, just to come with one son,” Elhareiz said through tears.
Elhareiz has three children of her own; the youngest is 16. She knows the family will grow close to Mustafa and his mother, but they know this is temporary as Mustafa could be on his way home in 6 months.
“We had two kids from Palestine stay with us, nine to 10 months. It was hard when they left,” Elhareiz said, before expressing her disbelief that this war is still raging.
“I can't imagine what they're going through. I never imagined it would last this long,” she explained. “We had our holy month of Ramadan, and we hoped by Ramadan it would be done with."
But with no end necessarily in sight, she’ll settle for this opportunity to help.
“I'm blessed to be able to do this,” she stated.
