Educational center for widows and children
Khanke is a small Yazidi town located on the Tiger River in northern Iraq.
After the so-called Islamic State’s incursion in 2014, an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp was created there, mainly for the Yazidis that fled the Sinjar Mountains. Initially, the camp was intended to be temporary. But despite four years having already passed, 16,000 people are still living there. Due to a difficult economic situation, lack of sufficient help and the fact that the refugees’ houses have been razed to the ground, the camp will for long continue to remain their home.
Large families live in old, torn tents or makeshift houses made of bricks and tin. The sanitary conditions are terrible, the quality of healthcare is very low, and education is in its infancy. Despite that, the international community does not pay attention to such places. No one fights for the rights of people living in resettlement camps, who left behind everything they had.
Support the educational center in Khanke
However, there is a place which gives hope – the educational center in Khanke, established by the Ourbridge Foundation in cooperation with the Eaglewatch Foundation.
The center was created in 2017, and its main purpose is to help women and children that were enslaved by ISIS to return to their normal lives. More than 400 women and children learn here every day and attend therapy sessions. The center organizes regular English, math, biology and chemistry lessons, among others, as well as sport activities, fun and games.
The students are 6-17 years old. All require special care and maximum attention. They all went through traumatic experiences. We need to make sure we help them open up to the world again and forget their dramatic past.
In cooperation with the Children Help Foundation in Żywiec and the Child and Family Foundation we organized two hand and machine sewing courses for women. Their main purposes were therapy through activities and vocational training.
This project is being continued, with cooking and English lessons having been added to the program. The former ISIS captives’ biggest problem is lack of professional psychological help. These activities are the only form of support they can currently receive. Hence, their continuation is very important.
In cooperation with the Children Help Foundation in Żywiec and the Child and Family Foundation we organized two hand and machine sewing courses for women. Their main purposes were therapy through activities and vocational training.
This project is being continued, with cooking and English lessons having been added to the program. The former ISIS captives’ biggest problem is lack of professional psychological help. These activities are the only form of support they can currently receive. Hence, their continuation is very important.
In 2018 we co-sponsored the purchase of a school bus to make it easier for children to get to school.
Whenever we are in Iraq, we visit the center and take a closer look at its functioning and needs. Our experiences are very positive. Everything works perfectly well and the results are satisfactory. The children are well taken care of and smiling. The educators, who are refugees themselves, have done a great job. No one imagines the center could stop functioning. It is very much needed.
Unfortunately, its fate depends on the funds that are indispensable for its continued existence.
New students regularly join the center. When asked, “How many children can be accepted?” the supervisors respond they will not reject anyone. The center’s work is of inestimable value and we must do everything we can to make sure it continues to exist. Its monthly running costs are around 10,000 Polish zlotys. Is it much for running a regular therapy for 250 women and children – victims of Islamic terrorists?
Unfortunately, its fate depends on the funds that are indispensable for its continued existence.
New students regularly join the center. When asked, “How many children can be accepted?” the supervisors respond they will not reject anyone. The center’s work is of inestimable value and we must do everything we can to make sure it continues to exist. Its monthly running costs are around 10,000 Polish zlotys. Is it much for running a regular therapy for 250 women and children – victims of Islamic terrorists?