By LORI SZEPELAK
Correspondent
WESTFIELD – Sahar Ahmed believes in the importance of education and respecting each other – and she instills those values as a paraprofessional in the kindergarten class at Highland Elementary School each day.
Ahmed, a former principal who oversaw 450 boys in an elementary school in Baghdad, Iraq, fled the war-torn country with her four children after the murder of her husband by militants in a random shooting spree.
“Two months after the birth of my son Ali, I called my husband at lunchtime but he didn’t answer his phone,” said Ahmed during an interview with the Westfield News on Thursday afternoon in her Main Street home. Her husband was a chemist and later an entrepreneur of a computer and cell phone store. “Some women in the neighborhood who were in the supermarket when my husband had stopped in said five to six terrorists came in shouting and took all of the men.”
Ahmed said nine days passed and no one knew where the men had been taken. She was encouraged to go to the local hospital to see if any men were in the morgue.
“They had stripped him of everything he had,” she said, adding that the police determined he had been killed the first day of capture.
Following that tragedy, Ahmed started receiving calls that her oldest son would also be captured. She quickly changed residences and cell phone numbers, but the militants persisted.
“It was a hard decision but with my brother’s help, we knew we had to flee for our safety,” she said.
Leaving behind her family and all of her possessions, Ahmed’s brother assisted her and her children into Turkey where they spent two years. In 2010, her family arrived in Westfield.
“Lutheran Social Services had a home on Frederick Street for us at the beginning,” she said, noting that she immediately set out to find work to support her family.
“Three of my children attended Westfield High School and Ali was still too young to attend school,” she said. Through the Westfield Public Schools, Ahmed found a home and a place where she could work and make a contribution to the community. As Ahmed became familiar with her surroundings, she also became friends with Susan Moore, an ELL coach at the Highland Elementary School.
“I think education is the only way to promote multiculturalism in the community and the world,” said Moore during a recent interview. “Sahar is an amazing person who can be shy but is also very strong and brave.”
Moore noted that Ahmed also helps new refugee families register for school and “does what she can to help in their adjustment to life in Westfield.”
Ahmed works full-time with kindergarteners as well as refugee students in other grades and rejoices with each day that she has a chance to instill her love of learning with them.
“I love the kids,” she said, adding it is a treat for her when children give her a hug.
“It is important to teach children at an early age about respect, following rules, and being appreciative for what you have,” she added. “Give them a lot of love and you’ll get that love back.”
That is Ahmed’s philosophy with her own children too.
“I was raised to be respectful and appreciative and I have instilled those values with my own children,” she said. “My parents were a wonderful example of how to raise a family and I am doing my best to pass on those values.”
Her oldest son, Wisam, 24, is majoring in criminal justice at Holyoke Community College (HCC), and plans to become a military officer. He also works part-time as a tutor and translator at the Highland school. Ahmed’s daughters, Reaham, 23, is majoring in translation and communication at HCC, and Weam, 20, is also attending HCC and plans one day to enter the medical field. During last summer, Reaham worked as a tutor and translator for Arabic-speaking students in the middle school and high school. Ahmed’s youngest son, Ali, 8, who attends second grade at Highland Elementary School, is especially vocal for his plans for the future.
“I want to be a paleontologist,” he said at the end of the interview. “I love math too which is important because you have to know the exact spot where you found the fossils.”
As his mom quizzed him on his addition, subtraction and multiplication tables, he beamed when he had all of the answers right.
“I can answer 32 questions right in a minute,” he said.
As this energetic 8-year-old then picked up a book on Aesop’s Fables, Ahmed reiterated how much she treasures her life now in Westfield.
“It’s my duty as their mother to take care of them,” she said. “Resettling in Westfield has allowed us to feel safe, to work hard, and to follow our educational paths.”
Just as Ahmed is there for her own children every day – she is also thankful for being able to share her love of education for children throughout the city.
“She is so thankful for all the wonderful things in her life, and she honestly believes that there could be peace in the world if we would just love one another,” added Moore.
