Former child refugee calls on Twitter to help trace camp worker who bought her first bike

‘I just want to know his name’

A former child refugee from Iraq is on the search for a camp worker who bought her a bike 24 years ago.

Mevan Babakar lived in a refugee camp near Zwolle, Netherlands for five years during the 1990s.

On Monday, the 29-year-old – who now lives in London – posted a photograph on Twitter of a “generous man” who bought her her first bike "out of the kindness of his own heart".

“My five year old heart exploded with joy. I just want to know his name. Help?” she asked Twitter users.

The post has now received over 3,000 retweets and thousands of comments from users offering their assistance to raise awareness of Babakar’s tweet.

“RT-ed because this is why the Internet should exist [sic],” wrote one user.

Another added: “My dad worked in several refugee camps right around that time but unfortunately he's not around anymore. But I'll give it a RT for sure. Hopefully someone recognizes him. [sic]”

“Do let us if you were able to make contact, such stories gives us hope in humanity, especially in this time & age, [sic]” another commented.

One user revealed that they knew the camp worker in the photograph and asked Babakar to get in touch.

“I know the guy... I worked there at the time please sent me a private message,” one user added.

Babakar later explained that the Twitter user did work at the same camp but didn't know of the camp worker's name so "the search is still on" to find out who he is.

When asked on Twitter what she would do if she located the camp worker, Babakar – who is now a tech manager – replied: “Honestly I'd cry my eyes out.

"There was so much hardship at that point in our lives and this was such a generous act, it taught me kindness can exist everywhere, no matter how terrible it may seem."

Babakar also posted a photograph of herself on her fifth birthday in the refugee camp before she received the bike.

“She doesn't even know that an incredible bike is coming her way aaaany day now! [sic]” she captioned the photograph.

Babakar told her Twitter followers that she is currently in Zwolle conducting research about the camp worker but is “hitting dead ends”.

In an interview with Dutch regional news outlet De Stentor, Babakar explained how much it meant to her to find the camp worker.

“I wasn’t someone who got presents, we were refugees," she said.

"Out of the kindness of his own heart, this guy who was an aid worker at the camp bought me a big red shiny bike. It was the most spectacular thing I’d ever got in my entire life.

“I never got a chance to say thank you,” she added, before stating that the worker also invited her family to spend Christmas with him after they left the refugee camp.

Of the few details Babakar knows of the camp worker, she told the news outlet that she currently knows he lives on a farm outside of Zwolle and that he has sons and a wife.

"We have some leads, someone has said they might know him. I would love to meet him and thank him in person,” she told the BBC.

"It's quite important for me to find him. When I go through bleak times I always go back to that feeling I had when he was so generous to us.

"Acts of kindness can shape a person and I hope I can do the same for others."