Nowadays it is rare to hear a lot about Iraq in Hungarian news, though, the demolition done by ISIS is still visibile in the country. Families that were banished from their homes, several years later still has to live in IDP camps because their previous homes and villages remained ruined. They still have very limited access to clean water, healthcare and education.
HIA Hungary is launching a fundraising to continue its humanitarian and development programmes and to become able to help more disadvanted families in Iraq.
Our colleagues who works on the field often meet children who has to grow up in IDP camps when their biggest dream is to have a real childhood and to study in a school after all the tragedies they went through. HIA’s colleagues often speak with parents who want to make sure there is a doctor to who they can take their kids when they are sick and in need for medical care. And there are families to whom it is an everyday struggle to access clean water.
40 years old mother who has been living with her husband and four children in and IDP camp since 2014. Before ISIS they lived as farmers but when they had to escape they lost everything they had. The biggest struggle for them is that they have an access to clean water on only every second or third day but it is not enough for a family this big. They could buy a water filter equipment together with two other families and they clean the water collected in the water butt. Ferdaws’ family is one of the many that can hardly manage to get clean water since it is an everyday challenge.
13 years old, sixth grade student who had to leave his home with his family and had to flee from ISIS. When they returned to Karamlesh, his schoold was ruined and children could study under very dangerous circumstances. HIA renovated the school so Louis can study in a safe building now. To many kids like Louis it is impossible to even imagine going to school and evolving with their mates because there are very few opportunities in the IDP camps and at the destroyed settlements.
23 years old woman who fled from the war in Sinjar. With her family of seven she has been living in an IDP camp for six years where living conditions are really tough, and services like healthcare are very limited. Shaemaa’s dream is to return home one day. This is why she applied to one of HIA’s training: with her newly gained knowledge she’d like to get a job and take care of her family after returning home. However basic services as clean water, electricity and healthcare – which is the most important in a pandemic – are missing in Sinjar. Families similar to Shaemaa’s who’d like to return home has to face total uncertainty for now.
HIA Hungary has been providing assistance in the Northern-Iraq region since 2016 for returning families with a special emphasis on supporting persecuted Christians and other minorities. We take part in rehabilitation and in re-starting life. In the part years we renovated schools and homes, set up water tanks and provided trainings for IDPs to support their returning.
More about our assistance
