Joliet cardiologist houses family fleeing Syria

JOLIET – More than once, Joliet cardiologist Dr. Mazen M. Kawji wondered why he had bought such a large house in Burr Ridge for himself, his wife and their four children, now 11 to 22.

Never had Kawji envisioned sharing that house with six more people, all Syrian refugees, all relatives. Kawji’s parents have lived with him since August 2012. In June 2013, the husband of one of Kawji’s sisters and their three children – ages 4, 7 and 8 – temporarily joined them.

Kawji’s sister, an anesthesiologist, had received a visa to live and practice there. She had assumed a visa would be extended to her husband and children within a couple of months. That did not happen, Kawji said.

The husband and children recently left Kawji’s house for Turkey, the only country allowing Syrians to enter and exit, Kawji said, because the sister had vacation time and wanted to see her family. This is why Kawji is uncertain if they will return to Burr Ridge.

“I have sent money to another sister. It’s difficult for her to get out,” Kawji said. “She’s a pediatrician and 49. Her husband is a gastroenterologist and is in his 50s. They have four children, 2 to 12. They prefer to die at home.”

To help individuals still living in Syria, Kawji encourages people to support several organizations. One is the American Relief Coalition for Syria at arcsyria.org. Another is Hope For Syria at hopeforsyria.org. A third is the Syrian American Medical Society at www.sams-usa.net.

Unfortunately, Kawji’s situation is not unique.

“Many of the Syrians who live here that are physicians or well-to-do have family with them,” Kawji said.

Ever since Kawji was attending medical school at Aleppo University in Syria, he dreamed of finishing his training in the United States and then bringing that those skills back to his own people.

“America is the most advanced country on Earth,” Kawji said.

Kawji completed his residency at the Lutheran Medical Center in Cleveland and Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, performed an externship at the Department of Endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine Louisiana State University in New Orleans.

He returned to Syria, briefly, in 1990 to get married. That’s when he realized his mother country would never be home to him again. In 1998, Kawji joined Heartland Cardiovascular Center and has happily worked there ever since.

“The way they treat you … corruption is widespread. Some of my friends went to France. A few went to England,” Kawji said. “Very few people go back.”

Kawji said the trouble that led to Syria’s Civil War began in 2011 in Daraa, a small city in the southern part of Syria. A group of schoolchildren, about 10 to 14 years old, sprayed graffiti and said things like, “Down with the regime!” and “We want freedom!” They were arrested, he said.

“The parent went to the local authorities and said, ‘They’re just kids,” Kawji said. “But they said, ‘Forget about them. Go back to your wives. Have more kids. And if you’re unable to do that, we’ll impregnate them for you.”

Knowing his parents are safe comes at a price. Kawji’s mother – in her 70s – and his father – in his 80s – know very little English, which makes them dependent on Kawji and isolated in his home.

“We go to work. My kids go to school,” Kawji said. “They are missing their community back home; they’re missing all that social life. My mother cries every day that she wants to go back home, even though she knows it’s unsafe. My dad tries to give her some peace, to tell her she’s blessed, that she’s sitting in a nice home with food, TV, Internet service and computers.”

Kawji said some locations in Syria have no electricity, no food and no water. In many cases, food shipments, not even the Red Cross, are allowed in, he added. In other places, people are living in refugee camps with little food and no school for the children. The tents get hot in summer, cold in winter and are not waterproof, he said.

“People are starving to death. That’s documented on the news,” Kawji said. “There are areas in Damascus where people are eating grass because they have no food.”