Iraq - Relief Effort

 

Relief Effort. More than 50,000 internally displaced (IDP) Kurdish and Turkomen people are living in tents, mud houses or vacant buildings in 40 sites around Kirkuk. Forced out of their homes under Saddam Hussein, they have returned to their hometown to find their homes were given to others during Hussein's regime. Most of their children born after 1991 have lived their entire lives as refugees. MRDS assessed needs in villages with representatives from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and distributed blankets, kerosene heaters and food to families. MRDS also assisted doctors from the U.S. providing medical care to IDPs in seven villages through mobile medical clinics. Most of the 40 IDP sites have no running water, sewage systems, schools or medical care. Read more about relief efforts in the First Quarter 2004 Newsletter.

Construction. A new pharmacy building in Erbil was built by MRDS. Land has been purchased for a new home for the women’s project in Erbil through funds from a German foundation. In another city, a straw-bale building for a new women’s program is under construction. The building is a model for an alternative energy building.