Support Portland's Own Mustafa

Mustafa has survived near-death experiences, terrifying war, a desolate refugee camp, and tremendously difficult life-saving surgeries. Not only is Mustafa a remarkable survivor, but the story of this sensitive young man has touched so many.

In 2004, when Mustafa was just 2 years old, shrapnel from an American bomb in Fallujah, Iraq, blew him out of his mother’s arms and tore through his body, severing his leg and hip, and causing serious internal injuries. Iraqi surgeons put him back together as best they could under the difficult war-torn circumstances in which they worked. The doctors urged Mustafa’s parents to see him immediately as there was no way to say how long he might survive.

But through pain, struggle, and the love of two amazing parents, brave little Mustafa did survive and ultimately found his way to Portland in 2008. On his second day in Portland, he was in the emergency room where, once again, wonderful doctors saved a dying little boy.



He recovered bravely, and Portland fell in love with 6-year old Mustafa. Mayor Potter declared ‘Mustafa Day in the City of Portland’, school children wrote letters to Mustafa, and Blazers’ coach Nate McMillan was so moved by Mustafa’s story that he stopped a practice so that the entire Blazer team could be inspired by this young, one-legged athlete kicking a soccer ball with focused precision. Later that year, Mustafa returned to Iraq.

As much as we tried to stay in touch with Mustafa and his family, there was war, dislocation and poverty to contend with, and our connection was lost. Mustafa was in our hearts, but we had no idea what had happened to him in his war-ravaged region. But in July 2016, a special NPR News Hour report on a devastated Iraq featured a weary teenage boy on crutches hobbling to a refugee camp in the desert. A video of that report and Mustafa’s story can be seen on NPR’s website here.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/11/01/560847049/in-fallujah-a-young-amputee-dreams-of-returning-to-the-u-s

It was Mustafa! He was alive. The reporter reconnected us, and in April of this year, Mustafa was back in Portland where again an emergency surgery saved his life.  Mustafa’s health has been restored as much as it can be, but the following needs are now essential:

Housing for Mustafa and his mother from November 1 through mid-December
Medical supplies for the rest of Mustafa’s life when he returns to Iraq
Home water sanitation system (He only has one kidney that is functioning at 80%).

Additionally, we hope to raise enough money to support this impoverished family to become self-sufficient through opening a small grocery store in the front room of their home – a dream, that they would love to see become reality.

Mustafa’s multiple injuries in many ways represent the horror of war. But his determination against all odds to survive, and his family’s serious desire for self-sufficiency represent hope, resiliency, and a better future.

We invite you to join a community of people committed to supporting him and his family as they write the next chapter of their lives.

Your donations will support the purchase of:

$35 will buy urine catheters for one week
$45 will buy colostomy bags for one month
$75 will cover food costs for one week
$500 will be a huge help towards housing costs from now through their return to Iraq

Thank you so much for your generous support!