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Intro to the book "Songs for Doa'a"
Intro by Joe Hoffman (aka "Cowtown Joe"), Program Director of Super Heroes for Doa'a
Isn’t it funny how everything in life can change in the blink of an eye and your priorities can change virtually overnight?
That’s exactly what happened to me recently when Doa’a came back into my life after a long absence…
One minute I was spending all of my free time working towards producing the musical saga about the blues I had spent the past two plus years writing, re-writing, and polishing up until it was about as good as I could possibly get it.
I was really looking forward to bringing my baby to life and being able to share with the world the 28 episodes and 112 songs that I had written.
And I was dreaming about how amazing it would be to work with students to produce my sweet story as a dramatic musical podcast.
In my mind’s eye, I could see myself working with the “Sound Effects Squad” of students I was going to recruit to organically obtain all of the different sound effects we would need to make my production seem as realistic as possible.
In my heart, I was dreaming about working with the super talented student musicians I would need to recruit to develop the score for my musical saga about the blues. It was going to be a cross between the classical stylings of John Williams and the incredible Memphis soul music of Booker T & the MG’s, as my sweet story can be described as being “Star Wars: A New Hope” meets “The Blues Brothers”.
In my idle thoughts, I could see myself working with a wonderful group of talented and dedicated student voice actors to bring to life the characters of Robert, Naomi, Clarence, Koko, and the rest.
And I was truly looking forward to hearing the words that I had written leaping off of the page and out into the real world via the blue-tooth speakers, wireless headphones, and ear buds that people would be using to listen to the dramatic musical podcast that would be produced after a great deal of effort and a wonderful collaboration of hardworking students and skilled adults who were to be brought on to help mentor the students and supervise their activities…
But then the next moment, none of that mattered anymore because Doa’a Al-Dalou needed my help once again...
I first had the honor of helping Doa’a while I was working for (at the time) US Representative Dennis Moore (KS-03) when Elizabeth Alex (a news anchor for a local tv new station at the time) reached out to the Congressman’s office to ask for assistance with bringing Doa’a (who was then a small child, not yet two) and her mother and father to Kansas City so that Doa’a could receive some medical assistance that she really needed.
Elizabeth had become acquainted with Doa’a’s parents while she was accompanying a local medical relief agency, Heart to Heart International, on a medical mission to the Middle East.
While she was in Palestine, Doa’a’s parents asked Elizabeth to help bring their daughter to the United States so that she could be treated there, as Doa’a wasn’t able to receive the medical care she needed where she lived in war-torn Gaza.
When Elizabeth returned to Kansas City, she asked US Representative Dennis Moore’s office for assistance with bringing Doa’a to the US so that she could receive medical treatment here. And I had the honor of working with Elizabeth, as I was the Immigrations/State Department Specialist Constituent Services Aide within the Congressman’s office.
Working with Elizabeth was a wonderful experience, and it was truly something that I will always cherish.
As I will always cherish having the opportunity to be of service to Doa’a and her family once again.
Shortly after being contacted by Doa’a on Facebook and then receiving her father’s request for assistance with bringing Doa’a back to Kansas City so that she could receive more medical care, I decided to put my sweet story on the back burner so that I could focus my energies and my attention on assisting this sweet young lady who I lovingly refer to as my “little sister” and who affectionately calls me her “second father”.
And I began working on setting up a 501c3 charity so that I would be better able to assist Doa’a.
I additionally started putting together an anthology of some of the songs I have written over the years (including several numbers that I wrote for my musical saga about the blues) so that I could have something I could use to help raise funds for Doa’a and increase awareness for my “little sister” and her great need.
While I was putting together this collection of songs, I was inspired to write a few new tunes, including the title track for this book “A Song For Doa’a” which begins with the words:
Doa’a is a lovely gal
Livin’ in Palestine
But unfortunately for her
Things aren't goin’ fine…
Thanks for purchasing this book and for helping me provide assistance to Doa’a’. I really do appreciate all of your help, as does my “little sister”!
As-salamu alaykum,(Peace be upon you)
Joe