"Sometimes, I look at myself in the mirror and wonder, 'How am I still alive?'"
Yazidi mother opens up about escape from Islamic State, building a life in Canada
(1/ ) #YazidiPlight #Iraq #Canada
At 18, when she was eight months pregnant, Faeza Mejo was captured in August 2014 by members of the Islamic State terror group when she, her husband and his family tried to flee from the invaders in northern Iraq.
(2/ )#YazidiGenocide #Sinjar #Iraq
Faeza was separated from her husband and taken to a place where about 50 other young #Yazidi women and girls were held. She soon learned they were in a warehouse and they were the goods to be sold, and she would literally be marked for life.
(3/ ) #YazidiPlight #Sinjar
In a three-year span, Faeza was bought and sold 10 times by members of the genocidal Islamic State in the region.
She arrived in #Winnipeg six months ago with her son, who was born in captivity.
(4/ )#YazidiPlight #Iraq #Canada
After being terrorized and torn from her husband, who was taken away to fight, she gave birth to their son, whom she named Harman. He was delivered with the help of other imprisoned women.
Faeza captors changed his #Yazidi name to Abdulrahman (#Arabic)
(5/ ) #YazidiGenocide #Iraq
At first, Faeza was defiant and tried to escape, but was beaten for her efforts. She recalled being drugged. When she'd come to, she'd have no clothes on and be so sore she couldn't walk.
(6/ )#YazidiPlight
Mejo said they barely had enough to eat and Harman was so malnourished he once went into cardiac arrest. At the time, they were at a place where the Islamic State had access to medical facilities, and her baby was revived.
(7/ )#YazidiGenocide #YazidiWomen
"If you ever make it to safety, your family will either kill you or not accept you," ISIS members said to Faeza
But Yazidi community welcome to all Yazidis kidnapped
(8/ )#YazidiPlight #Lalish #Iraq
Mejo's father, who had early escaped to #Kurdistan, had to borrow US$12,000 to buy his daughter back.
(9/ )#YazidiGenocide #Iraq
“I need people to know my story and the struggle the #Yazidis went through." Faeza a #Yazidi survivor of genocide
(10/10) #YazidiPlight #Iraq @WFPCarolSanders winnipegfreepress.com/local/how-am-i…
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