Itidal Nemer Awad & her husband & son

My name is I'tidal. I am the mother of 2 girls and 4 boys. Raising 6 children in a country at war was not an easy task but I was a very determined person. My husband and I were doing our best to provide a good life and offer our children a happy childhood. My Husband Walid owned a furniture shop. As for myself, I was taking care of our children and whenever I had spare time I loved to embroider. I used to donate the earnings of my work to the Ina'ash Welfare Center to help those in need.

In 1982, in an instant, our family was torn apart. On their way from Wadi al Zayni to Saida, to visit my mother in law, my husband Walid, and my youngest son Mahmoud, were kidnapped. Mahmoud was only 9. He was a little boy who loved to play football.

They never came back home on that dreadful day.

I have spent every single day searching for them ever since. I could not sleep. I would be imagining all possible scenarios; I could even hear Mahmoud calling for me to help him. One month after their disappearance, while I was desperately trying to reach various militia groups to get answers. I was also kidnapped.

Nobody ever knew what happened to the three of us. My five children, Dalal, Fatima, Khaled, Maher and Wissam were left alone. They had to grow up without a mother or a father. I wish I could have protected them from the war and avoided all this suffering.

My name is I'itidal Awad, my husband Walid, my son Mahmoud. Do not let our stories end here.