Nabil Raghna and her two daughters were among the fortunate few Iraqis permitted to enter Jordan. With neither money nor friendly assistance, Raghna wondered if it would ever be possible to reunite with her husband in Abu Dhabi. To her surprise, however, a group of strangers made her dream come true.

While bombs shattered the nights of Iraq, the seasons continued to change in nearby Jordan. With spring's arrival, blooming flowers embellished the streets of Amman, an oasis that replenished wanderers in the boundless desert.

Yet, 300 kilometers from Amman, the Ruwayshid refugee camp stood amidst the scorching desert. Aside from an endless blue sky blanketing the horizon, the only thing left in sight was barren wasteland.

A gulp of water, an irrepressible smile

Established by the Jordan Red Crescent Society, Ruwayshid provides shelter for refugees coming from countries other than Iraq and Jordan. When we left the Tzu Chi office in Amman and arrived at the camp on April 1, we learned that most foreign nationals who worked in Iraq, such as Filipinos and Indonesians, had already been picked up by their respective embassies. However, foreign nationals from Sudan, Somalia, and Pakistan did not want to return to their own countries because they felt the conditions there were far worse than the conditions in Iraq. Instead, they fled to Ruwayshid. Presently, 56 families, totaling 266 refugees, occupy the refugee camp there. Most are women and children. A quarter of the camp--62 people--are under five years old.

Numerous charities collaborate in Ruwayshid's operation. The Red Cross supplies food stocks, which are then prepared by a British Catholic charity. The Jordan Red Crescent and a Malaysian charity group built and operate a small clinic. UNICEF runs a school for the children in the camp.

Provisions remain far from sufficient at Ruwayshid. Despite drinking boiled water, many refugees continue to suffer from diarrhea, and although the Red Cross provides each child with a bottle of water every day, incidents of dehydration remain common. The problem is aggravated by daily desert heat waves. But when night falls and the temperature plunges, refugees do not have enough clothes to keep warm.

During one of our visits to Ruwayshid's clinic, a three-year-old boy was brought in with dehydration. We immediately opened a bottle of mineral water for him. Soon after we fed him the water, he opened his eyes. We could see the torment he had suffered from the cruelty of war.

As soon as we had learned about the conditions at Ruwayshid, we began to make the necessary arrangements to help the refugees. Three days later, 26 of our volunteers set out from Jordan for Ruwayshid after loading five cars and three trucks with 3,000 bottles of water, 16 boxes of clothes (each containing 22 coats or jackets), 280 kilograms of sugar, 28 kilograms of tea leaves, and 50 packages of school supplies (each containing four pencils, four notebooks, two sharpeners, and two erasers).

When the supplies arrived, we first went to the tent where the children studied. Within the narrow, torrid confines, a mother with her child came up to us and asked, "My child is very thirsty. Do you have any water?" We immediately opened a bottle of mineral water for her. The child gulped it down and then smiled with satisfaction.

We later distributed the clothes and invited adults to pick their sizes and choose what they fancied. We also visited each family, giving them sugar, tea, bottled water, and the blessings of Master Cheng Yen.

When they received the relief materials, several refugees kept thanking us. Their thanks were sincere, yet they also conveyed an overwhelming sorrow. The chaos of war had left them vulnerable and incapable of even providing their children with basic needs. Since their homes and property had been destroyed, these refugees were left with feelings of frustration and helplessness.

It was scorching hot, and a sandy wind blew in. Our white pants, black jackets, and blue backpacks were all stained with sand. But our hearts were filled with love.

A haven in the desert camp

At noon on April 11, our volunteers returned to Ruwayshid with gifts for the children. We unloaded a swing, a slide, and a seesaw in a vacant area, where everyone joined to assemble them. Within moments, we had created a miniature playground. Curious children stood nearby and watched, giggling with thoughts of the promised joys. Here in the midst of restlessness and uncertainty, the playground brought smiles to the children's faces, and for a moment peace displaced the anguish in their minds.

On the playground we met Abed Wafamrs and her sister Hebn, two Iraqi girls who had both recently arrived. Abed Wafamrs told us that their house in Iraq had been destroyed and that they had fled with their mother, Nabil Raghna; they had reached Jordan only three days ago. While we were chatting, an American B-52 bomber cruised far off, drawing a trail of vapor across the sky. Looking up, Abed Wafamrs wailed, "Plane, plane, bombing Iraq!" Fear flashed across her innocent face.

Moments later, Abed Wafamrs and her sister stood in line to receive crayons and drawing books from Tzu Chi volunteers. Excitement was written all over their faces. We asked Abed Wafamrs to draw whatever she wanted, but unexpectedly her tiny hands sketched a disturbing depiction of a plane showering bombs onto buildings.

War has forever scarred the hearts and minds of these innocent children.

A joyful flight, a family reunion

Of the thousands of refugees who swamp the borders of Iraq and Jordan, only a handful have been allowed into Jordan. Refugees without valid visas issued by countries other than Iraq and Jordan are instantly rejected. Luckily, Raghna and her daughters qualified for and obtained an entry visa because her husband, Nabil, works in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. However, leaving Iraq did not mean all was fair and well.

Raghna's journey exhausted all of her traveling funds. Without any money or assistance, the family saw their hope of reuniting in Abu Dhabi become merely a dream. Tzu Chi decided to give plane tickets to Raghna's family so they could finally reunite. The three women were thrilled. After hearing our intentions, the travel agency provided us with the cheapest fare possible.

On April 16 at noon, Raghna and her daughters boarded the bus to Amman to meet with our volunteers and depart for Abu Dhabi. After the bus set off, Raghna found out that the border guards were still holding their passports. Since night was soon approaching, the driver was unwilling to wait for them. Left without a choice, Raghna and her daughters got off the bus with their heavy luggage and walked all the way back to Ruwayshid.

The next morning we received news that Raghna's family had obtained their passports and again departed. This time, however, the driver refused to let them off in Amman, as refugees were to be escorted all the way to the airport. We went to the airport right away and waited for the family.

Around 10 o'clock in the morning, we finally met with Raghna and her daughters outside the airport. Hebn was the first to rush off the bus. "Tzu Chi! Tzu Chi!" she called out when she saw us.

Since the plane wouldn't leave until 3 p.m., we had some spare time. We took the three of them to our Tzu Chi office in Amman, where they enjoyed an appetizing homemade Chinese meal and took comforting showers afterwards. Raghna also shared with us some of her experiences about fleeing from Iraq.

She said that although her family held valid entry visas, the Jordanian border guards gave them a difficult time and kept them outside the checkpoint without giving any reasons. In order for the girls to reunite with their father, Raghna persisted and waited outside the checkpoint for four days and nights. After days of staunch pleading and begging, the guards finally let them through.

Despite passing through the border and finding shelter at a refugee camp, Raghna and her daughters found the horrific living conditions hard to bear. From lack of nutrition and water, Hebn's face began to swell and fester.

According to Raghna, her husband had wanted to fly to Amman from Abu Dhabi to meet them. Yet like most Iraqis, he was not allowed to enter Jordan.

After hearing her story, our Jordanian volunteer, Aburasha, introduced the Tzu Chi Foundation to Raghna and her daughters in Arabic. Then the sisters began to say, "Tzu Chi, Tzu Chi!" and went on to sing and draw pictures.

Abed Wafamrs drew four circles dangling from a horizontal bar. Each circle represented the pots and pans her mother had used in their kitchen. A big cake with candles took up the center of the picture, and underneath it, written in Arabic, were the words: "Thank you, Tzu Chi." At the top of the picture was a colorful ribbon, under which two hearts were flying.

A cake and a candle similarly adorned Hebn's drawing. She drew two large suns, one in the upper right corner of the picture and the other between two mountains. Gliding above the mountains, a plane with ice cream floating above it beamed a delightful smile. When we asked why she drew the ice cream in the sky, Hebn grinned and said, "Because ice cream is sweet and tasty!"

By this time we had finally reached Raghna's husband, Nabil, by phone in Abu Dhabi. We first notified him of the flight number, and then one by one, Raghna, Abed Wafamrs, and Hebn talked to him. All of them seemed exceptionally calm. Perhaps the joy of their upcoming reunion had dwarfed any surprises, including hearing Nabil's voice after all that time.

After the phone call, we were ready to head off to the airport. Knowing that the journey from Iraq to Jordan had drained Raghna of all her funds, we presented her with another US$200 for their upcoming trip. At this point, Raghna could no longer hold back her tears. She told us that she would never forget what Tzu Chi had done for her family.

When we finally arrived at the airport, we were faced with another unexpected problem. Apparently, the border guards who admitted Raghna and her daughters into Jordan had forgotten to stamp an entry record on their passports. Without an entry record, they could not leave the country.

Raghna was extremely anxious, but her daughters played excitedly on the escalator because it was the first time they had ever seen such an interesting machine. Abed Wafamrs and Hebn laughed in excitement, thinking that they would soon be boarding a plane to see their father in Abu Dhabi.

We immediately contacted the defense commander in Ruwayshid and asked for a confirmation on Raghna and her daughters' identities. Fortunately, customs agreed to let them pass.

Before their departure, Raghna and her daughters gave us gracious hugs, and after passing customs, Abed Wafamrs and Hebn ran back to kiss us and say goodbye again. With best wishes we kept waving our hands until we could no longer see them at the end of the corridors. By then, tears had filled our eyes and blurred our vision.