By Kathy Kelly

In my 14th visit to Iraq, I came to know a little boy.

5 year old Munthedar, whose name means “waiting for,” suffered from leukemia and thalessemia, and had just had his spleen removed when I first met him in early December. He barely noticed me. On my second visit he was sitting up and smiling, and by my third his mother said he’d been asking after me every day. He greeted me with kisses and shyly whispered, “Is there a toy for me?” Fortunately, I had one last, toy harmonica to give to him. There aren’t words to describe his mother’s
eyes as Munthedar clutched his tiny piece of plastic and flashed the gentlest smile I’ve ever seen. When I returned for a fourth visit, little Munthedar’s bed was empty. He died Saturday, 5 January 2002.