Khawla Hadi

Khawla Hadi’s immediate family left Iraq, fleeing persecution from Saddam Hussein and his Ba’ath Party. Her husband escaped the military during the first Gulf War, in 1991. After spending time in a refugee camp, in Saudi Arabia, he reached the United States as a refugee. With the help of UNHCR, he arranged for Khawla and their four children to join him in the U.S. Taking care of four children was challenging. As they were still young, Khawla tried her best to hide the hardships of resettlement from them. Khawla worries about her parents, brothers, and sisters; they’re still in Iraq. She knows that her children have been affected by not having their relatives nearby. As her children have grown up in the U.S., Khawla has watched them lose parts of their native culture and language, which have been replaced by American culture and English. While they have sacrificed, Khawla knows that if her family had not come to the U.S. they would not have had the opportunities they enjoy today. Today, Khawla is a Peer Support Specialist with International Counseling & Community Services (ICCS), which addresses the mental health and adjustment needs of area refugees. She translates for Iraqi refugees and guides their resettlement in the U.S. Khawla began to feel at home when she started to work. In Seattle, she has a new life with a new lifestyle. She has no plans to return to Iraq. Over the past few years many of her friends and neighbors from Iraq have resettled in Seattle. She said, “It’s like a piece of back home is being brought here.” World Refugee Day is meaningful to Khawla because it recognizes the challenges overcome by refugees and honors their contributions to their new communities.