In a small tent in the cold northern Iraqi mountains, five children struggle to make the best of their difficult circumstance. They’ve been living here through the winter since Islamic State fighters broke into their home one late night last June and shot and killed their parents. One of the boys was also wounded by the gunshots. The children fled to safety together with their grandparents on Sinjar Mountain where they endured ten days without adequate food and water before reaching the safety of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Today, they are living in very poor conditions in an open field. When it rains, the tent in which they live regularly gets flooded. Their grandparents, who live in the tent next door, are too old to take care of them. 14-year-old Alwin has assumed the role of mother for her siblings. Thanks to the winter clothes and blankets received from Mission East, Alwin and her siblings were able to keep warm throughout the last winter.
They are among the 3 million persons displaced internally by the attack of ISIS in Iraq. With your support, CEDAR’s partner Mission East by the end of March 2015 supplied winter clothing, footwear and blankets to 2,664 households and also Sealing-off Kits to improve shelter conditions of 250 households. They are now starting up child-friendly spaces and children’s club activities to help these children living in informal settlements to resume their normal childhood activities like play and learning, and to cope with the traumas they have experienced.
On this World Refugee Day (20 June), let us remember the needs of the refugees in Iraq:
- Praise the Lord for His mercy to Alwin’s family and other Iraqi refugees and for keeping them warm and safe during last winter.
- Pray for God’s provision as more donations are needed urgently to meet the basic needs of the Iraqi refugees
- Pray that the work of our partner Mission East will help to address the psychosocial needs of women and children through child-friendly spaces, children’s clubs, women’s centres and psychosocial support sessions for women.
Other Methods of Payment
- Cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’
- Deposit to HSBC A/C No. 600-385678-001, enclosing with the Pay-in slip
- Autopay (only applicable to regular fixed donations), enclosing with a completed Autopay Authorisation Form (Download: WORD or PDF)
- Visa/ Master Card
Download Donation Form
Please send a completed Donation Form, enclosing with cheque or pay-in slip, to CEDAR FUND, G.P.O. BOX 3212, HONG KONG.
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
*Integral Alliance is a global alliance of 20 Christian relief and development agencies, working together to present a more effective response to poverty worldwide. CEDAR Fund and Mission East are Integral’s members.