Wings of a Bird

Fleeing Falluja: Families Speak Out
Three families who left the city to seek shelter ... spoke of the terror they felt as violence escalated, but also of the kindness of relatives and friends who aided them despite the risks. ...
Our host, a woman called Um Ali, says she is willing to let us live with them for one year and that if the house was big enough she would host all our family together, despite her poverty.
She had to borrow money so she could pay for all the people who are living in the house - including our family. ...
We left everything there to save ourselves and took only some bags of clothes with us. ...
We left heavy-heartedly as we simply didn't know where we were going.
All we knew was that we had to leave as fast as possible if we wanted to stay alive.
We decided not to leave together as we are a big family of 30 people.
We split into three groups to not attract attention. ...
We used to own two taxi cars, but one of them got stolen, depriving us of a much-needed source of income.
Fortunately our new neighbours stood by us. Without their help, we couldn't have made it.
When they knew about our plight, they started sending us food everyday.