Terrorism leaves lasting wounds on Yezidi grandmother

'My mind is dead because of what ISIS did to me 5 years ago' shares an elderly Yezidi woman who was held hostage by Islamic State terrorists for 12 months.
'I have 10 family members who are missing and I don't know where they are or if they're even alive.
I saw my friends be killed with gunshots, but for some reason they didn't kill me. They hit me in the head, over and over, with their shoes. I can't see out of one eye anymore. My arm and shoulder is also damaged.
Because of terrorism, I am in pain inside and outside.'

Her eyes say it all. Although I couldn't speak her language, she let me dive into her eyes and feel a moment of her anguish.
She unashamedly looked at me, almost pleading to be seen and heard and understood. It was raw. But I couldn't look away.
With the help of a translator, she shared some of her story with me.
How do you respond to a woman who says she feels 'dead inside' after experiencing more violence and loss than I can imagine?
I asked if I could hold her hand. I let her see my eyes glistening with tears, I told her I was sorry for the pain she's been through, I smiled and welcomed her to Australia, and I said a prayer to God to heal her heart. Written by a YouBelong volunteer.

This is one of a thousand refugee stories … the real-life experiences of some of Australia’s most recent arrivals. It's hard for us to understand such trauma, we can’t. But we can seek to understand, to find out more, and to open our hearts to our newest neighbors. These are the people YouBelong welcome, the ones we invite to eat at our tables.

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