To the Friends and Families of All Affected

04 June 2012

At an interfaith gathering held on Monday June 4, the community of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar students, faculty, staff and friends remembered the victims of the tragedy in the aftermath of the Villaggio mall fire that occurred on May 28, 2012.

The below remarks represent the thoughts of various community members from Qatar to the United States.  To contribute to this online digital memorial please send your comments here.

To all the families of the little ones lost and the firefighters and the teachers, too, we are mourning with you here in Doha. Not a day goes by that our hearts don't think about your loss, send a prayer up in your name and beg God for his compassion and peace. - Michael and family 

The members of the Georgetown University Qatar Liaison Office wish to express their heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the Villagio mall fire. The victims and their families will remain in our thoughts and prayers.  - Staff, Washington, D.C.

To All: We are so truly sorry for the loss you have suffered. At this difficult time, please pause and know your family is in our prayers. May God hold tightly to the children that passed and to the teachers and firefighters whom we now call heroes. You will not be forgotten.- Mr. and Mrs. James Williams

My deepest sympathy to the families who lost their loved ones and faced the most tragic moment of their lives. May God give you all strength to bear this loss and get through this difficult time. - Jane

As parents of five, three and one year old children, my wife and I were profoundly affected by this tragedy. We wept as stories about the victims’ last moments, heroism of the caretakers and firefighters, and sadness of the families were conveyed by the media in the aftermath. Both of us are very familiar with the Gympanzee facility, the yellow-walled, paw-stickered path to get to it, and the Villaggio mall. We cannot imagine the intense grief that friends and relatives of the victims must be experiencing. We want to express our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all the victims and let them know our prayers are with them. May God give them patience at this extraordinary time and grant them guidance and mercy to bear through the unimaginable loss. - the Qazafi family

 
Nineteen lives were lost too soon. Six of them sacrificed their own lives to save the others. This tragedy led to the loss of innocents and a loss of innocence in this small Doha community. The anguish of the families and friends affected by this is beyond my comprehension, and I hope that they are able to find a little peace soon. Let us not allow something like this to ever happen again.

-A

We're a small community - in Georgetown SFS-Q, in Doha, in Qatar. Although we cannot begin to imagine the grief, we can't but be affected deeply. Many of us knew some of those lost and some of the families to whom they were lost; none of us can escape the reflections and emotions, individual and collective, coming in the wake of these tragic events. We think of you and hope you find strength in the embrace of your family and friends, and the knowledge that all in this small community of ours, in our various inadequate ways, feel connected to you - also if you are among those families far away, from Morocco and Iran to the Philippines and the globe, who lost your loved ones here in Doha, our and their home. We will honour the memories of everyone lost.

Gerd & Jira Nonneman

To contribute to this online digital memorial please send your comments here.