Making the Dream

Text and audio by Martha Pierce
Photos by Afsaneh Zaeri
Slideshow by Matt Pruett

It’s a pretty picture, but this Middle Eastern family has been through hell to arrive at a stable life. In 2008, Karim, Hanaa and their six kids fled from war-torn Baghdad, where Karim was a soldier for the U.S. Army. Despite arriving with little, the couple says that moving to Des Moines, Iowa has afforded them opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.