Dubai: I still stare at that image when I see the iconic Time magazine cover of a frightened and crying girl fleeing the hellish experience of being burned by Napalm bombs.
I met Kim in Havana, Cuba, many years ago.
I was among a group of Ghanaian students doing a one-year Spanish programme in Cuba.
Kim was also studying there and visited our residence a few times.
I remember she always wore long-sleeved turtle neck blouses. She said she had to choose her fabrics carefully otherwise her skin would have an adverse reaction — it had become so sensitive due to the extensive burns.
The turtle neck long-sleeved blouses hid the scars that covered Kim’s body … scars of war.
Friendly and soft-spoken, Kim’s smile belied the horror she had endured at the tender age of nine.
She told us about the fire and the pain. An excruciating pain she couldn’t quite describe.
The encounter with Kim was not that long but she made a real impact on us.
My group didn’t maintain contact with Kim, now a Canadian citizen, but I’ve watched a documentary on her the multiple surgeries she has undergone to mend her scarred body and alleviate the pain.
What stayed with me was what she said about some American soldiers who tried to help her. She said they tried give her some relief by pouring water on her. But Kim said that actually made things worse because it felt like boiling water was being poured on her, a feeling of being “cooked”.
