Crossing borders to help

PERRYSBURG, Ohio (WUPW) - This is a story nearly a decade in the making.

On Jan. 20, Linda Greene of ISOH/IMPACT welcomed back a sweet little girl from Tajikstan to help her recover from a horrible accident.

"If she would not have gotten help, she wouldn't be here today.  She would be dead, or she would be a vegetable.  Let's say that there was an intervention from God," Greene said.

When Marwa was just 2-year-old she fell from a two story building during a bomb attack in Tajikistan.  Marwa and her family were refugees trying to make their way to Afghanistan for a better life. 

"I feel very strongly about reaching over the boarders and across, especially to other countries where the religious barriers are causing problems," explained Greene.

The accident left a large hole in Marwa's skull, where her brain was only being held in by the skin on her forehead. Her family heard about a clinic Greene had in the country, that was bringing children back to the states to get medical help. So, Marwa's father sent his baby girl with Linda, to Ohio.

"It was intense seeing her go through the procedure the first time, it was brain surgery.  They had to put a plate in her head.  I was afraid she would not live," she said.

Marwa recovered with flying colors and returned to Afghanistan with her family. Since she's growing, so is her skull.  Now she's reunited with Linda, to get the plate fixed.  Greene says helping provide healing for others, is also something that heals those involved in helping.

"When you reach out and touch that life, you're going to start changing the way that people look at us as Americans.  It might just change and make things shift a little bit," she said.

Marwa doesn't know English yet. However, her translator says that over the next few months she looks forward to getting help learning. 

ISOH/IMPACT says they need some help also. They are collecting donations for clothing and other items that Marwa and her father will need. Their luggage was accidentally sent back to Afghanistan by the airlines.