“When we moved to Mobile from Iraq, Maryam was almost seven. She lost her hearing when she was almost two from an explosion in the war. There was an infection and she received the wrong medicine. The situation was bad and we were afraid. It took us a few years to get out of Iraq. We are Syriacs, one of the oldest groups of people in the world. We speak Arabic, Turkish and Syriac, the pure language of Jesus. We went back to Iraq in 2013, taking our three kids to see their grandparents. Isis had entered Iraq but people didn’t know much about them. We were Christians traveling there with an American passport and Isis tried to kill us. We had to hide and run away. I did not feel safe until my feet were back in Mobile. 

After we moved here, Maryam had two surgeries and started over at age seven with a new country and a new language. She attended the Regional School until she couldn’t go there anymore. St. Pious gave her a scholarship and she went in at a lower grade because she was behind. With implants she could hear, but it took a long time to learn the language and understand southern accents. She can read lips now, but it is harder when people speak fast. 

Going into high school, McGill would only put Maryam in a lower level program on track to get a GED. Other schools said they weren’t equipped for her. One school across the bay wanted her but it was too far away. Maryam is bright and I fight for what is best for her. We found the Accel Charter School and they made a plan for her catch up and finish high school in two years. The school sees her potential and wants what is best for her.

Most of her life, Maryam hid behind me when others were around. Nervous and shy, she was afraid someone would not understand or accept her. At Accel, a friend told her that she can’t hide behind her disability and that we all have something wrong with us, even if it doesn’t show. People at school don’t feel sorry for her, they treat her normal.”

“Accel is the best ever. I have made friends here. This is the first time people have talked to me in school. People didn’t want to talk to me before because I was deaf. Now everyone says hi or hugs me. I feel loved for the first time. It makes me happy. I like art and graphic design, but I love taking photographs. I want to learn more about it. I am taking pictures for the yearbook. My principal told me I can be a researcher or a doctor, so I have started thinking about a career helping people. I want to show others they can have a good life, even if they have a disability.”

“For many years, I felt like I was the only person who saw this in my child and believed in her, but now others see it. She is shining and standing on her own. We give thanks to God for all of the people He has put into our lives. They have opened our hearts and changed us in so many ways. We finally feel like we have found the place where we are accepted as we are. Maryam wanted to share her story so others can know that they can find their place, too.”