Fleeing violence, Bifituu Kadir came to the United States as a refugee from Ethiopia in 2015. Her husband is a refugee in Turkey, unable to yet join his wife. She was resettled in Boise, Idaho, in an apartment complex that housed many other refugees, including those from Somalia, Iraq and Syria. Her world revolved around her young daughter, Ruya, a cute little girl with a big smile who loved pink and purple.
At Ruya’s third birthday party on June 30, 30-year-old Timmy Kinner stabbed her two violently that she died on July 2 in Primary Children’s Hospital.
Kinner, who had been asked to leave that apartment complex a couple of days before the attack, returned and went on a violent stabbing spree that left Ruya dead and eight others injured, six of them children.
Teba Jalil is one of the other five children. She is 6 years old. She also loves the color purple and the movie “Frozen” and is looking forward to starting first grade. But right now, she remains in the hospital with injuries to her liver and pancreas.
Her mother’s injuries are even more serious. She is paralyzed on one side of her body, the victim of multiple stab wounds as she tried to shield her daughter from the worst of the attacks.
Retraumatized by violence and bloodshed they thought they were escaping, the refugees who were attacked and those who saw it happen are struggling. They are fearful to leave their apartments and who could blame them? Even with an outpouring of community support and expressions of love, they still need a little hope and perhaps a reason to smile.
Enter Mike Hamilton, professional magician and humanitarian.
In 2006, after he and his wife divorced, his kids were struggling. He decided to get them involved in serving in the community and began doing shows at the Christmas Box House, serving children in Utah’s foster care system. He brought not only his magic, but also included the opportunity for kids to select an animal, stuff it, dress it, and keep it for their own. Even the teens who thought they were too cool for a stuffed animal enjoyed it and thus “Build-A-Buddy” was born.
In 2014, he began volunteering monthly at Shriner’s Hospital in Salt Lake, where he has given out more than 2000 stuffed “buddies” and accumulated more than 500 volunteer hours. He has also taken his show — and his “buddies” — international and has performed shows in refugee camps in Turkey and Greece. The stuffed animals are prized possessions for kids who have almost nothing.
During the school year, he takes his “Magic with a Message” show into schools, reaching tens of thousands of children with his inspiring messages promoting literacy, drug awareness, cyber safety and bullying.
Hamilton was on the phone the day after the attacks, working on the logistics of doing a show and providing stuffed animals for the children living in the apartment complex where the knife attack took place. He was asked if he could please expand his plan and also do a show at a family homeless shelter, the local hospital and a shelter for unaccompanied minors.
Of course he said yes, because Hamilton believes every child deserves a childhood.
Later this month, he will take his show — and his “buddies” in need of stuffing and someone to love them — on the road to Boise. A stuffed animal and a magic show might not solve the world’s problems, but they might just begin to restore faith in humanity for people who have been so hurt by the worst of humanity.
Hamilton is volunteering his time, and he is fundraising to pay for the animals, the stuffing, and the clothing to dress them. Donations can be made through “OperationKids.org,” a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
(Photo Courtesy Holly Richardson)
Holly Richardson, a regular Salt Lake Tribune contributor, believes everyone deserves to have hope in their lives.
