Education and Training in Kurdistan

Escaped Esidian children can go to school again.

Udo Stolte reports: “During my first visit to the small Esiden camps, parents and a teacher had designed a temporary tent school, which impressed me. One year later I met the children in the morning playing. When I asked them why they were not in school, they said their teacher had gone to Germany”.

Regular schools were too far away. No money for transportation, no school materials, no school lessons!

With the help of a partner organization and private donations, we have been able to provide schooling for these 40 to 50 children. In the video they say thank you.

Helen: “My Dream: Child Centre in Baadre Camp

In the north of the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq we find several large camps with fled Esids. In one, Helen and other women have created a little paradise: Happy children between the ages of 4 and 15 play, sing, dance, laugh and work with exciting teaching material based on the Montessori pedagogy.

The young teachers are highly motivated and the children are enthusiastic. It is a lot of fun to watch them. It started with 60 children a few years ago, inbetween the number was 120 and now we have 200 to 250 children in the center.

You can hardly see what these children have been through. They are orphans, victims of the IS. Some of them have experienced terrible things.

We want to continue to help them. Please support us!

 

The entry of the trauma therapy center

The new building

 

The girls in the trauma therapy center and our staff members

Arts and crafts as therapy

 

“Zhian” is the name of our new trauma therapy center in Kurdistan

In English it means “life

The new house, painted in fresh colors with bright rooms, has just been furnished with purpose. Two days a week, for four hours each, young women come to the center to find new perspectives for their lives. They are former slaves of the so-called Islamic State, who have been freed in the meantime, but suffer from the terrible experiences in their captivity, are deeply traumatized.

Four staff and six volunteers work here with 25 to 30 young women between the ages of 18 and 27. There is individual counseling as well as group singing, arts and crafts, English classes and small group personal development classes.

Later, sports and music courses will be offered, as well as vocational courses.

A story…

Our collaborator Lena, founder and director of the Trauma Therapy Center, reports: “The girls feel very comfortable with us; those who were initially very shy, even fearful, are gaining more and more self-confidence and conquering their fears. We work with them in groups as well as individually consulting.

In the group we sing in English and Arabic. The girls have great fun with music and learn English along the way.”

The young women have experienced terrible things as IS slaves, most of them are severely traumatized. Lena continues: “We have been trying to help a girl named Nesia (name changed) in many ways for a long time. She had major mental problems and kept fainting all of a sudden.

In the meantime she can eat regularly and laughs more. She confides her problems to us and gains self-confidence.

Now she has fallen in love with a boy, the engagement is planned. She is happy that her life has changed so much. Meanwhile, she teaches English in a nearby refugee camp. I am happy for her and for the drastic change in her life.”

In April 2021 was the official opening of the therapy center, since then we can provide the full program. The cost for a participant is now about 150 euros per month. The project number is 8013.

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