ACT News Update

Iraq 0704

Geneva, December 17, 2004—At this time of year, children around the world are making their wish lists for the gifts they hope to receive. Some hope for toys or a bike or video games. But for some children in Iraq, living amid war and violence, their hopes stem from greater needs and worries about their future.

“I want to sleep without fear and the noisy helicopters roaming around my neighborhood,” says Maro, a nine-year-old girl living in Baghdad. “I cover my head with my pillow, but I still hear them.”

These days in Iraq, it can seem like the fears are winning out over the hopes. Yet leaders of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International working in Iraq, are keeping the hope of a brighter future alive for some people in Iraq. The MECC is also concerned about the present needs of people affected by the worsening situation as a result of the war and violence, and has committed itself to seeing its current program through to completion.

MECC’s current projects are a continuation of earlier programs that began when appeals were issued in June 2003 and extended to July 2004, when the current appeal was issued. In a report issued this week, MECC says, “Even with the situation becoming more harrowing, the MECC/ACT program was still working and meeting goals that were set forth.” Since it began its current work in Iraq, MECC has helped to rebuild nine health centers and five schools in the northern parts of Iraq where the security situation was better, which allowed its work to continue in safety.

This week, MECC began a distribution of mostly non-food items to 1,000 families that have fled Fallujah and are now in camps for displaced people or that are living in and around Baghdad. MECC reports that the estimated number of displaced families is 25,000, all living in tents or public buildings. Each family will receive a kit consisting of two blankets, three sheets, three towels, two tracksuits, soap, washing powder and a carton of drinking water. MECC reports that the director of the hospital in Fallujah has also asked it to provide medicines and that it has begun supplementary feeding to some hospitals and social centers.

Since July 2004, many international organizations have been pulling out of Iraq because of the deteriorating security situation. “This caused a standstill in many of the MECC/ACT efforts,” MECC says in its report. But a recent visit to Iraq by MECC’s new coordinator of its program there, the Rev. Dr. Nuhad Tomeh, signaled the resumption of its programs. Tomeh also took the opportunity to meet with heads of churches in Iraq on November 29. “At this meeting I conveyed to the heads of the churches that MECC/ACT and the general secretary [of MECC] welcomed them and assured them that prayers are constantly being said for them and their communities,” Tomeh says.

With more than 15 churches and one major monastery severely damaged by recent bombings, church leaders are also fearful. The church leaders expressed other fears about high unemployment among Christian Iraqis, lack of attendance at worship because of poor or no transportation options, and poverty in families. Tomeh says that despite the extremely difficult situation, the Iraqi churches remain united and faithful and maintain “hope for a better future.” MECC states that its role “is seen to be one that encourages the churches to remain strong, as well as to provide what financial support is possible.”

During December, MECC also plans to distribute 1,000 gifts of school supplies and other items for children at Christmas and donate supplementary food to hospitals, homes for the elderly and orphanages.

On his visit to Iraq, Tomeh spoke to other children in Baghdad and asked them what the main thing they wanted to happen in their city was. “The answer which came almost from all was that they want to feel safe so as to go to school without fear,” he says.

Twelve-year-old Khalad says, “I want to become a computer specialist, but how can I do this if I can’t finish my school? Many times the classes are interrupted, and I worry that I won’t ever finish my school. We are scared from the bombs and the rockets and the machine guns’ sound that comes from everywhere.”

As the people living in Iraq struggle for their future, at the heart of that struggle dwell their hopes and fears.