Quoted: "I am a new human being"

Raeda Fatoohi (r), shown here with CNN International anchor Isha Sesay, was honored at the IRC Atlanta office's Freedom Fete benefit event in September, 2010.

Photo: Ryan Hébert

"Today I am feeling that I am a new human being, a new person -- that I can go to the church to pray, to visit my old friends without (being) scared..."

- Raeda Fatoohi, 50, who last month became the 20,000th refugee to be welcomed by the IRC office in Atlanta. 

Raeda says she fled to Jordan from Baghdad in 2009 because of the increased religious persecution she faced as a Christian in Iraq after the Gulf War.  She recently told WABE radio that she wants to pay back the gift of a new life the people of the United States have given her and become self-sufficient as soon as possible. The September 28 story also featured IRC executive director Ellen Beattie.