

December 12, 2003
Setbacks for bringing Palestinian family don't deter hope
By Bill Choy
Ashland Daily Tidings
Friends of a Palestinian woman who planned to move with her children to Ashland are still hopeful for her arrival, despite some setbacks in the process.
In late September and early October, a group of concerned citizens tried to raise funds for Fayka Ramadan, a registered nurse in her mid-30s and the mother of three young sons, for plane fare to come to Ashland. She was expecting a fourth child in November, friend Sharon Cummings of Ashland said.
Ramadan lived in Ashland and Talent for nine months more than two years ago and wants to return to America so she and her children can escape the violence that is an everyday part of life in the occupied territories. She had to leave Oregon because of family issues back home and problems with her green card.
Her friends were able to raise enough funds, but circumstances delayed Ramadan's planned move - her oldest son's visa was taken away. Details are sketchy and Cummings said she's unsure who took the visa and why it was confiscated.
Ramadan hoped to have her fourth child here, but that didn't happen, Cummings said. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Syda, on Nov. 20.
"She and the baby are healthy, which was a concern," she said. "There's basically no prenatal care. It practically doesn't exist where she is."
Cummings said she and her friends were relived Ramadan was able to have the baby in a hospital in Jerusalem. Because of the tensions in the West Bank, it can be difficult to get into Israel, she said.
The last time her American friends talked to Ramadan was the day she gave birth.
She was still determined to get her family to Ashland, Cummings said.
But it will take time for her to get a passport for her new baby and her oldest son. The rest of the family has passports.
Ramadan's husband plans to stay in Palestine to run the family's flower shop.
"There's no phone to connect with her," Cummings said. "So we're just waiting in anticipation for her to call us."
With the violence and unrest in the West Bank, Ramadan's friends are concerned for her and her family, and how she's faring.
"I just don't know," Cummings said. "It's hard to know. There's always something going on every day" in the area.
While there's enough funds to bring Ramadan and her three sons, her friends here are still trying to raise enough money for plane fare for baby Syda, Cummings said.
"We were so ready for Fayka and her family to be here and we pray it will still happen," she said.
The community can still donate funds for Ramadan and her family to an account set up at Rogue Valley Federal Credit Union. Donations can be made to the Fayka Ramadan Family Fund at any of the credit union's locations. In Ashland, the credit union is located at 415 Lithia Way.