Hassan and Awaz Malih

Hassan and Awaz Malih came to America in 1997 from Northern Iraq, fleeing persecution and human rights abuses. They are part of a community of nearly 7,000 Kurds that have settled in Nashville. Throughout their courageous pursuit of a better life, the Malih family has been deeply thankful for their freedom and for the kindness of strangers.

The United States is quite a different place from where we used to live. More than anything, we wished for our children to grow up in a country where they can feel safe and free and work at something they choose. Living in America has not been easy; we had to start all over in many respects. There were many challenges, but many, many more blessings. Especially the wonderful people of Nashville Habitat for Humanity.

Before we came to Habitat, we lived in a tiny two-bedroom apartment with all three children in one bedroom. There were shootings and problems with disorderly neighbors, so our children were not allowed outside to play.

Nothing has been such a blessing to us than buying our own home. But we could never do this alone. Volunteers from Habitat came every weekend to help us build our house. They showed us great love and acceptance. With Nashville Habitat, everybody is a hard worker. People go out of their way to help each other. We learned so much from them and from Habitat HomeWORKS classes. We are so thankful.

My wife said to me, “If this were my country [Iraq], maybe nobody would help us. Where can you see a 75-year-old man working in the hot sun, painting a house for someone else? I think, ‘he should not be serving me; he is too old. I should be serving him.’ In my heart I cry from his kindness. He seems like a grandfather to me.”

The people at Habitat are like family to us. We will never be tired of meeting new neighbors, and we go to all of the house dedications to welcome them. We want to pass on the love shown to us by Nashville Habitat.

“Nothing has been such a blessing to us than buying our own home... Volunteers from Habitat came every weekend to help us... They showed us great love and acceptance. We learned so much from them and from Habitat HomeWORKS classes. We are so thankful.” – Hassan and Awaz Malih