Relief for 1900 displaced families - Northern Iraq

Operation Mercy in Northern Iraq distributed fruit and vegetables for eight weeks in the small village of Bozan in April and May 2015. Bozan has been flooded with IDP's (Internally Displaced People) seeking refuge from ISIS. This distribution was made possible thanks to a grant received from the Isle of Man Government International Development Committee.

Each week around 700 bags, each with 6 KG of nutritious fruit and vegetables was distributed, one bag to each family. Each IDP family living in Bozan (mainly IDP's, plus about 120 vulnerable families-mostly widows-from the host community) received a bag of produce. Our partners felt that it was important to give to the vulnerable and neediest in order to bless the host community. The number of recipients increased slightly from week to week. The families were thankful to receive fresh fruit and vegetables, which they used to cook nutritious food.

The initial plans for the project had been to help 500 families but in the end around 700 families received the bags of fruit and vegetables representing 3700 individual beneficiaries. The initial plan had been to distribute food packs with dry goods. However due to the changing nature of need in IDPs, our partner decided to meet the basic need of food with fruit and vegetables in order to supplement the dry goods IDPs had received from the World Food Program.

One young man was attending university in Mosul, and aspiring to become a surgeon when his direction changed. When the destruction of ISIS swept into Mosul and later into his home town of Sinjar he piled into the back of a pickup with 30 people leaving behind all of his medical books but escaping with his life. One of 9 children, his family now lives in an unfinished house in a small village. There is no work for them and their future is now very uncertain. The vegetables and fruit distributed by Operation Mercy helped to supplement the food allowance they share to sustain their large family.

The World Food Program has now drastically decreased their distributions of staple food items in recent months due to budget constraints. As the amount of non-perishable food they receive has decreased, the IDP families were especially appreciative of the fresh produce as many do not have enough food to eat and cannot afford to buy fruit and vegetables.

As a result of the success and at the request of the World Food Program and the UNHCR, our partner is replicating this project in the most underserved formal IDP camp in the region.

The funds from the grant received have now been used up and so more funding is need in order for these displaced families to continue to receive this kind of food distribution.

Thank you for partnering with us to bring such a tangible benefit to these needy families in Northern Iraq.

Links:

• Northern Iraq Relief Project Page