"We have designed a special place for her at the elderly house care, where we will also check up on her health," Sherzad Haruri, the head of the the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Directorate of Care and Social Development in Duhok told Rudaw on Wednesday evening. He had previously told Rudaw they were aware of Qismat's situation, but could not offer her shelter.
Ahmed, 48, who is originally from Nineveh province, says she has consistently gained weight since she was a child, but is not believed to have any health conditions linked to the weight gain.
From the back of an ambulance, she bade a lasting farewell to her neighbors whom she had relied on for help to eat and bathe, as she cannot move without the aid of others.
"They [the elderly care staff] want a safe home [for me]. I am grateful to them," Ahmed said after she was taken to her new house. "Inshallah, they will provide care to me here, because I have lived in misery before.
Haruri vowed that they will "provide her a new life."
A day before she started her new life at the home, Ahmed told Rudaw that she had never wanted her room's door closed because she struggles with shortness of breath. “I can look outside only through this door."
During the early days of the takeover of Mosul by the Islamic State (ISIS) in mid-2014, Qismat, who at the time was able to walk, fled Mosul with her husband and settled in the village of Gufke, Duhok province.
She says her husband died of a heart attack earlier this month, leaving her alone. She does not have any children.
"I have no one in this life," she said.
Despite the difficulties, her neighbors were adamant they wanted to help.
"It is very difficult for us to take care of her," Aziza Ahmed, a villager who often helps Qismat told Rudaw on Tuesday.
"Holding her up and helping her sit down is very difficult," Aziza said. "We can barely move her."
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), being "overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer."
"Once considered a problem only in high income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings," the WHO added.
According to WHO, worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975.
"In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of this number, over 650 million were obese," according to the WHO.
Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
