Lost Innocents: The Children of War is the personal journey of a Lebanese Canadian survivor of war intent on discovering what, if anything is being done to aid the countless children still victimized by the most recent war in Iraq.
Her travels take her from Canada to England, and Kuwait City where she meets the doctors, politicians and activists who made the daring decision to airlift a dying twelve year-old boy out of a war-torn Baghdad neighbourhood. That one act of kindness sparked a massive humanitarian movement that eventually involved the rescue of thousands of physically and emotionally damaged children and thrust the life-or-death struggle of little Ali Abbas into the international spotlight.
After losing both of his arms, his parents, and twenty-two family members in a missile attack that supposedly went astray, Ali Abbas is now forging a new life in England under the specialist recovery care of the Limbless Association. He is joined by his best friend Ahmed himself a survivor of an internationally prohibited cluster-bomb attack that claimed the life of his thirteen year-old sister and left him with only one hand and leg. Their painful recollections are the stuff of nightmares and yet, as they enter their mid-teens, it seems they are able to cope with all that has happened to them.
For many Iraqi children, the world has come to their rescue: to sponsor, adopt or raise money for expensive surgical treatments. But many more children have nothing but grief and struggle ahead of them, trapped in a country that is still politically restless and unsafe. For Ali, the media has remained a microscopic lens over his shoulder, trained on his every movement and every word. As he grows into adulthood, what role does he see himself playing in the never-ending dilemma that is the Middle East? But throughout it all, Ali and Ahmed's stories remain unique. Their remarkable resilience in the face of extreme personal tragedy exposes the strength of a child's spirit and the breadth and limitless nature of human compassion.
Her travels take her from Canada to England, and Kuwait City where she meets the doctors, politicians and activists who made the daring decision to airlift a dying twelve year-old boy out of a war-torn Baghdad neighbourhood. That one act of kindness sparked a massive humanitarian movement that eventually involved the rescue of thousands of physically and emotionally damaged children and thrust the life-or-death struggle of little Ali Abbas into the international spotlight.
After losing both of his arms, his parents, and twenty-two family members in a missile attack that supposedly went astray, Ali Abbas is now forging a new life in England under the specialist recovery care of the Limbless Association. He is joined by his best friend Ahmed himself a survivor of an internationally prohibited cluster-bomb attack that claimed the life of his thirteen year-old sister and left him with only one hand and leg. Their painful recollections are the stuff of nightmares and yet, as they enter their mid-teens, it seems they are able to cope with all that has happened to them.
For many Iraqi children, the world has come to their rescue: to sponsor, adopt or raise money for expensive surgical treatments. But many more children have nothing but grief and struggle ahead of them, trapped in a country that is still politically restless and unsafe. For Ali, the media has remained a microscopic lens over his shoulder, trained on his every movement and every word. As he grows into adulthood, what role does he see himself playing in the never-ending dilemma that is the Middle East? But throughout it all, Ali and Ahmed's stories remain unique. Their remarkable resilience in the face of extreme personal tragedy exposes the strength of a child's spirit and the breadth and limitless nature of human compassion.