This post was authored by my coworker Han Shan. He was close friends with Marla and recently returned from Afghanistan where he met people she worked with. He has posted at Emboldened previously on his travels in Palestine and Israel.
Dear Friends,

This Sunday will mark one year since my friend Marla Ruzicka was killed in Baghdad along with her Iraqi colleague Faiz Ali Salim. As many of you know, they were traveling on the Baghdad Airport road after visiting with Iraqi families harmed by U.S. military action when a suicide bomber attacked a passing U.S. military convoy. The car they were traveling in was engulfed in flame and Marla and Faiz tragically joined the innocent victims of conflict that they were working to help.

On Wednesday I returned from Kabul, Afghanistan, where Marla was often on my mind. She went to Afghanistan as part of a women’s delegation from Global Exchange in November 2001 to see the impact on the civilian population of the U.S. attack against the Taliban. It was through Global Exchange that I originally met Marla in 1999. As part of a particular San Francisco activist community, we worked (and drank) together and like so many others, I harbored a little crush on her. She flirted with me and my girlfriend Kayana used to tease me that Marla returned my crush. Kayana and I both learned later how innocent it was, and what a terribly effective technique it was for Marla, who charmed so many reporters, government officials, soldiers, and fellow activists - men and women alike - into supporting her humanitarian projects.

In Kabul, I spent several days with a woman named Arifa, who was one of the first war-affected people that Marla met there. On November 6, 2001, a U.S. bomb hit her family home, killing her husband, her eldest son, and six other members of her family. Arifa became a widow at age 30 and a few weeks later Marla came to see her. Marla vowed then to do whatever she could to see that Arifa, and others like her, received the help that they needed to piece their devastated lives back together.

In 2003, Marla started CIVIC - the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict - and went to Iraq, where she worked tirelessly to force the military to account for “collateral damage” and to secure compensation for the families caught in the cross-fire. She returned to Kabul on several occasions, always going to see Arifa and her remaining family.

Arifa wept as she recounted how her young daughters - 6 and 8 years old now - adored Marla. She told me how they would run to her and hug her and giggle. “I love Marla more than my own life,” she told me and asked if I had the phone number for Marla’s mother. Arifa wanted to tell her what a gift she gave the world. She unfolded a flimsy piece of posterboard that Marla had scrawled on: “I need a new home, I lost 8 family members. -Orfa.” Orfa was Marla’s mistaken phonetic spelling of Arifa’s name. Marla took her to the U.S. Embassy to see what kind of help they would give. After they were rebuffed, Marla made her this sign so that she could stand outside and try to draw attention to her tragic plight. Guards at the embassy gate promised that someone would come out to investigate but of course no one ever did.

Now 4 1/2 years later, Arifa has received no assistance and every day is a challenge. Her family must leave the home they are renting - a small mud-brick house of two rooms with no indoor plumbing and tattered plastic over the windows to keep out the wind and dust and cold. The family who owns it is returning from Pakistan and they will have to move to another house in the poor neighborhood, where the rent is $10 more a month - $50, an increase of 20%, and an amount that will make it more difficult to take care of her children on her $75/month income. Arifa and her family desperately need a home of their own.

I went to Kabul to work on a documentary film about global opinion of the United States and the impact of our country on people’s lives around the world. I found Arifa through someone who knew Marla there and she allowed us to come and talk to her because I was Marla’s friend. One day, we walked the dusty road from her rented home to the cemetery where the 8 family members killed in the bombing are buried. We walked and my friends walked alongside, filming. While we stood by the grave-site, a man asked why we were filming. He was Arifa’s neighbor, who lost 2 family members in the same bombing. As he spoke he appeared both angry and hurt. “Why are you filming this poor woman? Time and again, people have come and taken pictures and left, and nothing has changed. No help has ever come.”

I told him and Arifa then that I did not know what I would be able to do but that I promised I would do my best to see that she got help. I was already in touch with the staff at CIVIC, who are carrying on Marla’s legacy of helping innocents caught in the cross-fire of war. Marla’s files on Afghanistan were messy - the folks at CIVIC were glad that I had located Arifa, and have assured me that the money Marla had lobbied for is available to help. It just needs to be allocated, pushed through the bureaucracy of USAID.

So CIVIC is pushing and I’ve offered evidence - pictures and video and documents I collected from Arifa and scanned. It looks likely that Arifa will finally have a new house.

But there are many more families like Arifa’s that CIVIC - the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict - is working to help. To mark a year since Marla and Faiz were tragically killed, CIVIC is promoting a web-campaign to show our government officials how many people care about civilians caught in conflict. Please check it out and take part by sending a photo of yourself with a sign that says “I care” - http://icare.civicworldwide.org

I hope you’ll also join me in making a contribution to CIVIC, in memory of my profoundly compassionate friend Marla, and in dedication to profoundly wronged people like Arifa: click here to make a donation.

Thank you - wishing you peace,
Han

P.S. The money to get Arifa’s family a new house should come through USAID - CIVIC has a small budget and its hands full advocating for innocent people affected by conflict. But to show your support for Arifa’s family getting help, please consider making a dedication when you donate: “for Arifa.”