Faiza Essa Toma Hanna

As a child, Faiza had a dream — that was to become a nurse and serve her community. She pursued her early education at Al Tashania Catholic School in Mosul, Iraq. After completing secondary school, she sat for the entrance exam for nursing and she was selected. She entered the Nursing Academy and became a fully ‘pledged’ nurse in 1977 and started working in a maternity hospital near Basra.

In 2018 she moved to Ibn Sina Hospital in Mosul and was a senior nurse in charge of training nurses.

In Mosul she lived in a poor neighborhood, and during her free time she used to treat her neighbors free of charge.

Though she is a Christian, most of her neighbors were Muslims, and in early 2010 she received threats from Islamic extremists to vacate her property or pay money to remain in the area.

In mid-2010, Muslim extremists exploded a bomb hidden in a generator right at her door step. Faiza was holding her three-year-old grandson at the time of the explosion. All she could remember was holding her grandson’s severely damaged lifeless body in her arms. Realizing the horror, Faiza fainted and collapsed. These memories remain vivid today.

Faiza’s body was badly burnt and she had to undergo 14 surgeries to restore her left arm. She still remembers how her neighbors, along with the neighboring mosque, collected funds and rebuilt her house — a testimony to Faiza of how others came to her aid because of all of the help that she provided to her community.

However, when ISIS entered Mosul she was compelled to flee from Mosul as Christians were not allowed to stay in the city. ISIS destroyed her house again in 2014.

After fleeing from Mosul she became an IDP, internally displaced person, and started living in Zakho district Dohuk governorate in Iraq. There she approached the Department of Health (DoH) and started working as a volunteer nurse at a nearby PHC.

In 2015 Malteser International started supporting the PHC in Bersive ll IDP camp where displaced Yazidi population came from Sinjar district residing. DoH in Zakho district nominated her to work as a clinical nurse in Bersive ll health facility.

Staff Faiza popularly known as ‘Mother of Mathiaz’ still works at Bersive ll IDP camp PHC run by German Humanitarian Assistance Funds.

Faiza is a real, current day nurse following the footsteps of Florence Nightingale. She told Malteser International that Nursing is part of her life.

– Deb

As a child, Faiza had a dream — that was to become a nurse and serve her community. She pursued her early education at Al Tashania Catholic School in Mosul, Iraq. After completing secondary school, she sat for the entrance exam for nursing and she was selected. She entered the Nursing Academy and became a fully ‘pledged’ nurse in 1977 and started working in a maternity hospital near Basra.

In 2018 she moved to Ibn Sina Hospital in Mosul and was a senior nurse in charge of training nurses.

In Mosul she lived in a poor neighborhood, and during her free time she used to treat her neighbors free of charge.

Though she is a Christian, most of her neighbors were Muslims, and in early 2010 she received threats from Islamic extremists to vacate her property or pay money to remain in the area.

In mid-2010, Muslim extremists exploded a bomb hidden in a generator right at her door step. Faiza was holding her three-year-old grandson at the time of the explosion. All she could remember was holding her grandson’s severely damaged lifeless body in her arms. Realizing the horror, Faiza fainted and collapsed. These memories remain vivid today.

Faiza’s body was badly burnt and she had to undergo 14 surgeries to restore her left arm. She still remembers how her neighbors, along with the neighboring mosque, collected funds and rebuilt her house — a testimony to Faiza of how others came to her aid because of all of the help that she provided to her community.

However, when ISIS entered Mosul she was compelled to flee from Mosul as Christians were not allowed to stay in the city. ISIS destroyed her house again in 2014.

After fleeing from Mosul she became an IDP, internally displaced person, and started living in Zakho district Dohuk governorate in Iraq. There she approached the Department of Health (DoH) and started working as a volunteer nurse at a nearby PHC.

In 2015 Malteser International started supporting the PHC in Bersive ll IDP camp where displaced Yazidi population came from Sinjar district residing. DoH in Zakho district nominated her to work as a clinical nurse in Bersive ll health facility.

Staff Faiza popularly known as ‘Mother of Mathiaz’ still works at Bersive ll IDP camp PHC run by German Humanitarian Assistance Funds.

Faiza is a real, current day nurse following the footsteps of Florence Nightingale. She told Malteser International that Nursing is part of her life.

– Deb