Situation - WordPress.com...Brief summary about Joint Help for Kurdistan (JHK): We are a group of...

Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459

2017-07-07

Situation:

In August 2014, ISIS invaded and conquered the villages on the southern flank of Mount Sinjar, in northern Iraq. They targeted the Yazidis, (a Kurdish ethno-religious community) for extermination, labeling them devil worshipers (infidels), executing some of the men, and kidnapping them for forced labor. Yazidi women, sometimes with their children, were abducted to be sold as sex slaves. The Islamic State’s sex trade appears to be based solely on enslaving women and girls from the Yazidi minor-ity.

JHK stands for Empowering, Rebuilding and Revitalising the lives of thousands of displaced Yazidi people who are suffering from one of worst genocides in our modern history; ongoing since the 3rd of August 2014 till today.

There are still more than 3000 people held in captivity with ISIS, children as young as 6-7 years old are being used as sex slaves and trained to become military to kill. Young 11-17 years old girls are being raped and sold as sex slaves, giving birth to ISIS babies. The trauma they have faced is beyond a healthy human imagination.

Shingal city two years after liberation

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Brief summary about Joint Help for Kurdistan (JHK):

We are a group of Swedish-Kurdish doctors who came down to help IDPs and refugees from the barbaric ISIS war. We have chosen to work at Bajed Kandala 2 camp because it was difficult to reach, supposed to be a temporary camp and not many other organisations were interested to go there.

We started as a mobile team, putting medicine in our backpacks and organising the distribution of water, food and clothes in the Duhok area amongst displaced people. We built a health centre by asking to get caravan donations from an oil company. In September 2014 we had our first caravan in addition to our backpacks and mobile team. We got another two caravans from another company and in the beginning of 2015. Then the LDS Charity from the US completed the setup with another 6 cara-vans and roof protection. (Please see the attached report 2014)

In October 2014 we started our bakery and we were giving daily fresh bread to 18000 IDPs. Unfortunately we had to close the bakery after a year due to financial difficul-ties, due to the influx of refugees to European countries.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 Although we did not start as an NGO we were working systematically just like any established organisation. We registered JHK as Swedish NGO charity in June 2015, in April 2016 in Kurdistan/ Iraq and finally in May 2017 in the US as non profit 503(C)1.

JHK is a non-profit, nonpolitical and non-religious umbrella organisation for all sup-porting NGO:s, individual funds and volunteers who want to give help and show support for the people from all different religions and ethnic minorities living in Kur-distan. Our main mission is to support and protect the most vulnerable groups and in-dividuals suffering from humanitarian crises and to ensure their well being and rights. We believe: Many small brooks make a strong river!

Other than working in the camp we also provide health care and medical services through our mobile team in times of crisis. Abroad of Kurdistan we are working with spreading information, through seminars and meeting with high official bodies in many countries, about the current situation in Kurdistan and about the Yazidi Geno-cide 3rd of August 2014 to increase awareness.




The JHK-team contains many genuine individuals who show their utmost love to-wards the work and towards people in need. JHK is unique in that the clinic is run by IDPs from the camp, we have cultivated the inhabitants to help and rely on each other and work towards a community based rehabilitation in order to be able to target dif-ferent aspects of the trauma they have faced and are suffering from ISIS. We like co-operation therefore we also have both medical and non-medical volunteers from Kur-distan as well as from all over the world coming to us and have had projects with other NGOs and organisations. Our funding is based upon donations and funding mainly from private individuals showing their support for our work, but also from other NGOs who want to collaborate. All the donations and funding that we receive go 100 % non-cut to the people we work with since we do not have either time nor interests in spending it on administrations. Here you can read more about our dona-tion methods.

JHK stands for Empowering, Rebuilding and Revitalising.


http://www.jointhelpkurdistan.org/index.php/help-info/

http://www.jointhelpkurdistan.org/index.php/help-info/



Short summary about JHK Founder

Dr Nemam Ghafouri is a volunteer doctor from Sweden and founder of the Swedish Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Joint Help for Kurdistan (JHK). She and her team have been helping IDPs and refugees affected by ISIS in Kurdistan since 2014.

Nemam herself was born and grew up in a war environment. She was one of the last generation of Kurdish children who were born in the caves in the Kurdish mountains where people would take refuge during bombing attacks. She was born on Christmas day 1968 in Kurdistan, Iraq. Hiding in the mountains became too dangerous when the central government start using chemical/gas bombs. Therefore, at a young age she ended up in Iran as refugee after the 1975 Algiers Agreement between regional gov-ernments. Then destiny took her family to Sweden where they received asylum. Even with learning four new languages and living in four different countries she managed to receive her education and become a doctor. In January 2001 she graduated from medical university in Umeå, Sweden. She was working as Cardiothoracic surgeon un-til 2014 when she got involved working with refugees and IDPs disastrous situation in Kurdistan. Her prior experience in this field involved charity work in Ethiopia and India as cardiac surgeon.

For the past three years she has been volunteering with Joint Help for Kurdistan. She is constantly travelling between Sweden and Scotland, as she has to go back to Swe-den to work for a couple of weeks and earn money and then flies back to Kurdistan and stays 4-6 weeks, depending on for how long her money will last. She and all oth-er volunteers from Europe and the US pay for all their expenses from their pockets.




Our work:

The situation for IDPs specially Yezidi people is getting worse day by day . They don't have refugee status hence after the initial emergency period they are no longer supported by the UN.

They are supposed to receive support from the central government in Baghdad but so far they have not received much help, and the help that is given is poorly coordinated. For example just recently in July 4-5 they distributed the oil that was supposed to be given in winter time for their stoves.

We have managed to build up a culture of team working that is very unique to our or-ganisation. Our team not only run the primary health centre at the camp but Support:



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 • Nutrition program for children via a program called “Bananas go to school one day

per week”

• Education program by providing volunteer teachers who give English lessons dur-ing school hours and utilise the health centre’s facilities to host additional classes for children and for our team members.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 • Social activities for children and adolescence also via those volunteers who come

mostly from Scandinavian and US.

• The poorest of the poor, orphans, women and children returnees via Godfather child supported program.

• Programs for rehabilitation through community activities in different occasions.

• Women and children who escaped from captivity with additional medical and health issues by referring them to tertiary medical heath centre and providing health services free of charge. This we do also for those adults who are taking care of or-phaned children who’s parents are missing, from time before ISIS war and or killed by ISIS. We also try to provide advanced health treatment for others in need by us-ing our network both in Kurdistan and abroad. (Please see our reports for 2015 for further info.)

• Young girls sports activity. Sport programs could be powerful platforms to connect girls and adolescents with vital information, skills, and in helping girls realize their full potential.




JHK in Kobane:

We also support people in Kobane in Syria who also were victimised after Isis attacks. We go there 3-4 times a year with humanitarian aids, food, clothes, hygienic items and medicine.

• In 2014 and 2015 with the help of doctors from Kobane who worked with us as volunteers we run mobile teams and provided medicines, food and clothes to refu-gees in Turkey and later returnees and displaced people in Kobane.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 • In August 2016 we were the first international aid organisation to reach Manbij and

we distributed clothes, hygienic items, blankets, baby food and medicine in addi-tion to Kobane and Qamishlo.

• In December 2016 we bought winter clothes for 1300 orphan children.

• In February 2017 we supported school children and paid for tables and chairs.




Despite that we are a small NGO run by volunteers, we manage to do some incredible work. Our work is often even more effectively executed than the bigger well paid NGOs, as we have constant dialogue with those we are helping and can alter the treatment we provide based on the current needs. We believe that we are some of the most dedicated and efficient in the field.




Joint help for Kurdistan Projects in 2017

JHK is a charity organisation run by volunteers, operating in Bajed Kandala 2 camp. We have several ongoing rehabilitation projects established at our healthcare centre, which is situated in the camp. Funds and donations to JHK would go to provide med-icine to our health clinic that aids the people in the camp or to any other of our projects.




Health clinic

The health clinic with its team of doctors and nurses was one of the first projects ini-tiated by JHK due to the acute need for health care when the war started on the Aug 3rd 2014. Providing medicine is and will always be our highest priority. Our health care team buy medicine from secure pharmacies around the area of Duhok close to where the camp is.

All of the team members are survivors of the war and are living in the camp them-selves. Daily 120-150 patients visit the clinic, and on average 3600 patients are taken care of monthly.




Mobile team

In times of crisis our mobile team of doctors is ready to reach any area exposed to war with the aim to give instant health care where needed. Making a donation to the mobile team will secure medicines, food, water, clothes and other basic requirements in times of crisis.




Godchild and Orphan program

We have a Godchild and Orphan sponsorship program for the most vulnerable chil-dren and families. Our team started the Godchild and Orphan Program to support the most vulnerable families and children living in the camps since December 2015. The children are from the poorest families in the camps, where there is no bread winner - ie often the father has been killed or imprisoned by ISIS, survivor mothers and children returned from captivity, orphan children, children in families with chronically ill father, etc. Each family's needs for sponsorship is being assessed and evaluated separately by people in our team based on close and continuous communication. The amount of money given to each child/family depends on aspects such as the number of children in the family, absence of one or both parents, health of adults and/or the legal guardian/caregiver of the family, etc. (see the table picture for more).



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 Through “sponsor a child” program, we create a special kind of giving that creates a relationship between donor and the child and his/her family to secure the child’s car-ing and needs in this hardship of life in the camp.

Mostly the money will go directly to the child/family however in special cases our team will buy what the children need and give the items rather than giving the money to make sure that the money will benefit the children directly. With continuous donations for the sponsorship of a child you will get regular reports about the child’s well- being including personal greetings from the child as often you would request.




Sisterhood program

The Sisterhood program was initiated by one of the brave survivor who was in Isis captivity for 9 months. A women with great passion to other women and victims of this ongoing war. During one of her rehabilitation trip program she learned to use washing machine for the first time in her life. She was amazed by how a washing machine could easily be used and bring some comfort to everyday life. Always think-ing about her family and people who suffered such a tremendous horror by ISIS bar-barism immediately she came up with a bright idea: this would be such a relief for those women who have came back from captivity and have children and everyday must wash so many clothes. Being such an inspirational person who somehow con-nected the washing machine to the benefits of other survivor women coming together for supporting each other daily, our donors responded to Shireen's affectionate re-quest and we started our "Sisterhood Program" together.

The first distribution was done on Nawrozday, March 21, 2017 and the second group of family received their washing machines on April 5th, 2017. Since then we contin-ue the distribution whenever and for whoever there is need for. Our aim with the Sisterhood program is to build bridges between women and the survivor women and/or mothers in need of social and psychological empowerment.




Education and Schooling

Many children despite several years of schooling still are unable to read and write, they cannot even write the alphabets and or their names. Their education has not been prioritised by aids organisations. for the first 7 months of 2016/2017 school year, 4700 of students in our camp were without teachers and it brought another trauma for those students who are dedicated to learn and educate themselves.

We have program to support education and reading and writing ability among youths at our camp. We bring volunteer teachers from abroad who teach english to all levels providing assistance from illiterate youth to learn the alphabet to conversation classes for experienced learners. We have also started to plan online teaching via those vol-unteer who have been at the camp when they are back home in their countries.




Women empowerment specific programs:

We are dedicated to helping women and children who have survived genocide, mass atrocities and human trafficking to heal and to have a role in re-building their lives and their communities.

When abducted women and children are rescued, there is not much help and support for them. They are placed into camps with a very difficult situation, they need all the support and help they can get.

JHK has customised programs for survivors according to their needs in addition to providing their needs of cloths, medicine and toys for small children. We provide teachers and mentors who can teach the young children who have been forced to for-get their mother tongue language which is Kurdish and can only talk in Arabic and or Turkish. We take trips to the big cities for different medical examination by special-ists and day trips to Lalesh and or Sharafadin to reconnect with their religion. We also take day trips to city to have fun and good times together, buying presents, eating and going to fair grounds.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 Football teams and tournaments

“Girl Power in Play” We have established football as a daily activity for our young ladies and build two teams one from Bajed Kandala 1 camp and one from camp 2. The girls football teams has had an positive increase in the girls well-being and has worked as an psychological treatment for traumas and for escaping an otherwise harsh environment in the camp.




Supporting small children and youth coming back from captivity

We try to fill the gap where it is missing by providing cloths, extra medical health check up, money for transportation from the camp to city for arranging paper work, etc. There are children who come back from captivity after 2,5 years and they don’t speak their mother tongue language which is Kurdish but speak Arabic and in one case she spoke only Turkish. We arrange child specific program according to their needs for example in the case of the little girl we took her to Lalish and Sharafadin, and got her a private teacher/caretaker and after two months she was no more isolated and started going to school and not only playing with girls but also with boys too and speaking in Kurdish.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 Making use of Events as community rehabilitation

Each year we arrange community based activities and aiming to rehabilitation and strengthening the feeling of togetherness through different activities. 2016 we engaged young ladies at the camp who in two months did preparation for celebration of women’s day aiming to do it for elderly women. 2017 women’s day celebration was targeting the young women and girls and become the biggest event in Kurdistan and Iraq, and the entire program was streamed live through several satellite and local TV channels.

(In addition we arrange big events for Nawroz, for memorial ceremony of 3d of Au- gust, New year, etc for the entire camp and with more than thousand participants and great engagement by the whole camp community)




Project Proposals

Women Centre:

The purpose is to establish a safe community for women that step by step leading women to take over the centre and run it and support other women from their com-munity. This is the first time that the women survivors will have a space to meet that is fully for them. There has been some program for women’s activity that has been run by other NGO, but it was open only during working hours from 9:00 to 4:00. JHK centre will be open 24/7so when women need to get out of their tent, because of do-mestic violence, feeling unwell, or just need to be some-where else, they will have a place to go and have some space and time for themselves and to be with other sur-vivors. The centre will function as a shelter house for many women who do not have any place to turn to when they are in trouble and need of help. The importance of such a centre felt even deeper when recently the first young mother came back with her baby who’s father was an ISIs man. Although she was initially accepted by her family but soon because of community pressure the picture changed and she is under continues threat, and her mother wants her to give away her baby but she wants to keep her baby and she does not have any place to go.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 In addition to above mentioned need for such a centre, there will be different work-shops to teach them skills and how to read and write. The women have requested sewing and literacy classes and hygiene workshops. Empowering and rehabilitating them through helping them to start small businesses would be the main goal for women to gain their independence. For that the following activities among others will be running on regular bases:




Made by women at the camp.



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 Mother and Child connection

to learn to play with their children and establishing joyful activities for mothers and their children



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 Handcrafting and skills

Already, women have been making bracelets and female Yazidi have made dolls that they would like to sell in the markets. We have also engaged them in sewing activities during different social activities and already have seen the joyful effect on them.




Paint away the trauma (workshop within the women’s centre).

We have already completed a trial study with three sessions and seen the positive ef-fects of how painting can help to tackle trauma and flash backs for survivors. We need financial support to provide a professional psychological to support to take care of the after trauma released through painting.




Building project of an Education Centre in Sharfadin

We are planning to build an Educational Centre in Sharafadin, Shingal. Sharfadin is an area located in the Sinjar/Shingal mountains, which was surrounded by ISIS from Aug 2014 until Dec 2014. Sharfadin, being the holiest place for the Yazidi people was called ”the deadliest shrine” by ISIS since they tried to destroy the place during those four months but failed.

In Dec 2014 Dr Nemam Ghafouri arrived to Sharafadin as a voluntary doctor with some medicine, milk and food for children, this was the first help since Aug 3rd. Af-ter the liberation she went back there with a mobile team to give health care to the people who had stayed. Many elders came forward to her and asked for education and schooling for their children.

They had realised the girls and women in captivity with ISIS who had been able to send an sms and or dial a number were the lucky ones to escape and return. They said they hope they will never be attacked again but this time they want to be prepared. Hence proving the importance of education for people in this area.

We have started fundraising to build an educational centre in Sharafand once we have enough funds we will start the project. In co-operation with a group of American vol-unteers who made the documentary: The Longest Road about the destruction ISIS has caused to minorities in the region including Christians and Yazidi. In the US The Longest Road has started a movement to raise awareness about the Yazidi cause. Richard Campos who is the sponsor behind the movie was himself a solider in Iraq



Joint Help for Kurdistan � رێكخراوی هاریكاری بۆكوردوستانBangårdsgatan 8 A ١٠٠ مهتری كوران عهنكاوه 745 34 Enköping ههولێر كوردوستانSweden عێراق+731919960 46 + 9647508535459 and Vietnam and has retired now and turned his attention to victims of war. All in-come from the screenings will be dedicated to this project.




Baked by strong and independent women

We built and started a bakery in October 2014 with support from private donors, but we had to close it because of financial difficulties. In 2014 and 2015 we were giving daily fresh bread to 18000 displaced people.

Now we want to use it as a place for the Yazidi women to have a daily activity to-gether. Our aim is that they will be able to make an independent earning from baking and selling their bread and pastries. It would also serve as an effective rehabilitation activity for the women.

We need funds to reopen the bakery for empowering the women. It is going to be dif-ficult initially as local people both muslims, christians don't eat food made by the hand of Yazidi people due to cultural discrimination. Once we start the bakery again we will involve authorities and religious leaders to support the project and tell people it is okay to eat and thereby break their taboos.




Cooked by strong and independent woman

We are planning to open a restaurant for a survivor, so she could support her family. “S” being eldest syster in family took care of 10 siblings since 18 years ago when their father had died. She was working at a farm before the displacement to support her family. She and almost her entire family was captured by ISIS when they attacked Shingal in August 3d 2014. She returned from captivity on April 2015 and lives at Bajed Kandala 2 camp.

Until now two unmarried sisters, one married together with her three kids, two sister in-laws and their kids, two aunties and their kids , and one 14 years old nephew have returned from captivity. The duration of being in captivity various for each one of them, from 6 weeks to 2 years and 6 months. She is still missing 21 members of her family including three brothers.

These projects are important projects because they are: 1- supporting rehabilitation of victims of genocide 2- empowering women 3- breaking taboos and ethically wrong cultural norms in the area:



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