February 26 - A time to remember sacrifices made for your Freedom

This is the truth of why February 26 is celebrated in Kuwait, not for you to get an extra day of vacation but to remember those who died for your freedom. Over a thousand Kuwaiti citizens were killed and some have never been found so for one day remember someone other than yourselves. I will make sure my children know the past of Kuwait and teach them to take care of their country.

 

My heart goes out to  the families of the martyrs may they rest in peace. If you want to see more details of the war I would suggest visiting the Kuwait Memorial Museum.

Here is an article about PTSD in Kuwait by Claudia Farkas Al-Rashoud a friend of the family and a great lady who cares a lot about Kuwait.

Few of those who witnessed the horrendous scenes of destruction after the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait would have believed the country would look so good again in such a relatively brief period of time. Physically, Kuwait made a remarkable recovery. What was not immediately obvious was the degree of damage done to the psyche of many who experienced captivity or torture or witnessed the cruel acts of the occupying forces. Buildings and installations, it turned out, are much easier to repair than the mental health of human beings.

Recent studies have shown that more than two decades after the liberation some twenty five per cent of Kuwait's population still suffers from the debilitating condition known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to psychiatrist Dr Abdullah Al Hammadi, PTSD is a long-term affliction from which the people of Kuwait will suffer for years to come, as do many American veterans of the Vietnam War, and even those of World War II.  Speaking to the Arab Times in his office at the Kuwait Center for Mental Health, Dr Al Hammadi said, "We are following the studies and literature from the United States and we see the same patterns, so we know that PTSD is not peculiar to Kuwait. The disease is the same, whether the patient is in America, Kuwait, or anywhere else in the world. The condition is definitely on the rise worldwide due to the large number of armed conflicts as well as natural disasters." (story link)