Ms Betty Stratton – A Life Story of Enduring Love From A KSC Sponsor.
Aram and Sazgar came from different families; yet, the common destiny brought them together when sponsored by MS. Betty Stratton, they became brother and sister in a small loving family of three. Here is their story!
Sazgar came from a family of farmers living in Gapla Village near Penjween District. The family cultivated a plot of fertile land and lived off its produce. Their orderly life, however, came to an abrupt end on the day when Sazgar’s father stepped on a landmine, planted all over the countryside of Kurdistan by the former Ba’ath governing regime, and left his family forever. Being very young, Sazgar’s widowed mother had to return to her father’s family where she remarried and left Sazgar and her older brother to the care of their paternal grandparents. Sazgar’s grandfather was old and unable to work on the land. The family did not have any other source of income, and because of this, Sazgar’s grandmother, and her brother continued to till the same plot of land that brought untimely death on their father, to make their living. However, ill fortune and bad luck continued to pursue the family. There was another accident: Sazgar’s older brother stepped on a landmine. He fortunately survived, but he lost one of his legs. After the accident, the family left the village and settled in Barika Camp. In 1997, KSC team came across the family and placed Sazgar on President Talabani’s fund where she stayed until the time when Ms. Betty Stratton, a sponsor from the UK, touched by her story, made a decision to sponsor her.
Being a faithful donor, Ms. Stratton kept on assisting Sazgar’s family for a long time. Although she never met Sazgar, she loved her dearly as if she were her own daughter. There was a regular exchange of letters and photos between Sazgar’s family and Betty. Years passed on, but Betty never let Sazgar and her family down. Having lost her own two children, Betty considered Sazgar as one of her children and lavished her motherly love on her.
Approximately at the same time, Ms. Stratton sponsored another child, whose name was Aram. An orphan from Halabja, Aram lost his parents when he was a small child. He lived with living with his elder sister and brothers. The family had no regular source of income. KSC team visited the family in 1997 and filled in the form for Aram to find a sponsor for him. Aram’s form was sent to Ms. Betty at the same time as Rojgar’s form was. Ms Betty sponsored both Rojgar and Aram, and the three of them gradually became members of one family. Strong ties between Betty and Aram, Betty and Rojgar were established. There was a regular photo and letter exchange between them all. In her letters, Betty kept on telling that she considered both of her sponsored children, as if they were her own, as if they were given to her in place of her two late sons. She used to start her letters with the words, “To my children…” In return, both Sazgar and Aram, who were denied the grace of their real mothers’ love, kept on saying that they loved Betty as they would have loved their own mothers.
There was always a smile on Betty’s face on her photos, which she used to send together with the financial assistance. It was as if her smile was encouraging both Aram and Sazgar to face life difficulties by standing strong and tall; as if she was telling them, “I’m your mother. My heart is always with you, my dearest son and my dearest daughter. I’m fine and I hope both of you are also fine!” Through her smile, Betty was trying to express her motherly feelings for both of them. She stayed in touch with her sponsored children until the day she passed away.
Life never gave an opportunity to Sazgar to attend school. Her family didn’t stay long in one place and was moving from one place to another. The calamities that came upon the family didn’t give an opportunity for Sazgar to study. Aram had to drop out of school to earn a living KSC usually terminates sponsorship when a child has grown up, or drops out of school, or gets married. Although both Sazgar and Aram grew up, married and started their own families, Betty never gave them up although other sponsors terminated sending their donations under the above circumstances. Betty, however, continued sending the financial assistance to them, year after year. When Sazgar’s children were born, Betty considered them to be her own grandchildren. She was eager to see Aram’s children as well, but this wouldn’t be. Betty passed away, and with her death Aram and Sazgar lost their dearest mother once again.
Before she died, Betty left a will, in which, like a real mother, she left an equal share of her fortune to both Aram and Sazgar to fulfill their dearest wish – to have their own house. Upon the receipt of their inheritance, both Aram and Sazgar are planning to buy a house, where they would live peacefully with their children, without being forced to move from one place to another, without being denied an opportunity to study, as both of them were forced to do when they were children themselves.
This is a story of Betty, Rojgar, and Aram, but this is also one of the stories that KSC was one of the main characters. In this story, KSC was like a bridge: This unique bridge of opportunity brought together Aram, Sazgar, and Betty. It helped them create an affectionate family of three based on enduring love. It helped them all keep the spark of this love alive in Aram and Sazgar’s respective families. It helped Betty to stay alive in Aram, Rojgar, and their children’s hearts, even after she had passed away.
