Zeyad of ‘Healing Iraq’ was one of the first Iraqi bloggers I started reading and I’ve been a regular there for three years now. Zeyad’s a dentist, but he has a journalist’s eye (and frankly, some days this business is a lot like pulling teeth). His account of how Saddam’s Iraq “bought” European dental equipment with oil money via U.N. channels was one of the first, and still one of the most lucid, illustrations of the “oil-for-food” scandal that I’ve ever read.

Now Zeyad has a chance to come and study journalism in the U.S. He’s earned the chance. Jeff Jarvis has the story:

We all need to help Zeyad, the pioneering Iraqi blogger and journalist, come to America, where he will attend CUNY’s new Graduate School of Journalism. To get his student visa, he must show support for the year and a half that he will be here and that means raising at least $45,000. We are reaching out to foundations and individuals and working on scholarships and Zeyad is working to raise money. But that won’t do it all. We will. All of you inspired Zeyad to blog and give his invaluable perspective on Iraq. That inspired him to give up his career as a dentist and report for his blog as well as for NYTimes.com, the Washington Post, and the Guardian. So now I hope we will all show what the blogosphere can do and raise the funds one of our own needs to come to America to study. You have two means to give.

If you go to Zeyad’s page (it’s linked from Jeff’s excerpt), you can click on the “My NY Scholarship Fund” button on the upper right and make a Paypal donation.