In the first part of our conversation with Dr. Imad Rasheed, we talked about his work at the University of Baghdad creating a post-graduate program in herbal medicine.
In part two, Dr. Rasheed talks about the events that led to him fleeing Iraq. His friend and co-creator of the post-graduate program, Dr. Rahad, was murdered by extremists after several threats on his life. Those extremists had threatened Imad as well, and after his friend’s murder, he went into hiding. He was determined, however, to finish teaching his classes for the semester before fleeing to Jordan, so he disguised himself every day to get to the University campus.
Imad struggled with the decision to leave, to leave behind his work, his family, his patients, his students. But ultimately, he knew that he would be leaving them one way or the other–by dying or by leaving. He chose to leave. And to live.
Melanie/ميلاني: From here, there are no easy choices.
