DUTCH COWS AND AUSTRALIAN SHEEP

Dutch cows and Australian sheep are helping to rebuild Iraq. In recent months, blankets, food packages, heaters and kerosene have all been part of Open Doors’ relief programme in northern Iraq, which aims to support and help Christian Iraqi refugees from Baghdad and Mosul. But now cows and sheep are taking over where they have left off.

Open Doors has provided relief for certain villages and families on several occasions, but recently it has turned its focus more towards structural help. In the long-term, it is more useful to help the Iraqis to be able to support themselves and to become less dependent on support from others. So cows from Holland and sheep from Australia can now be seen grazing in the fields of northern Iraq.

An Open Doors co-worker who has recently visited the area said: “Seeing the transformation that has been achieved, both in individual lives and in communities, as a result of these initiatives shows just what is possible when faith and actions combine (James 2:26). Today, the desert is literally blooming again as life begins to return to a degree of normalcy as a result of the tremendous efforts of Christians in the UK who responded to the needs of their persecuted family in Iraq. Being part of the teams involved in researching what could be done and seeing the outworking and implementation of these projects has been a huge encouragement to my own faith: truly God gives hope to the hope-less.”

There are still no indicators that the humanitarian situation in Iraq is going to improve in the near future. It is likely that the current insecurity will affect increasing numbers of people who are already vulnerable because of lost livelihoods, rampant inflation and lack of access to basic services. The need for action to help Internally Displaced Persons and refugees has not diminished. Many refugees and IDPs had hoped to return to their homes after a few months, but that hope has vanished, leaving them to accept the situation and start their lives all over again. Open Doors wants to give them the chance to remain living in Iraq by providing them with loans and other structural help.

Open Doors has set up three committees in three different villages in northern Iraq. The members of these committees are trained in all kinds of structural and socio-economic concepts based on biblical and socio-economic development principles, as well as in setting up small projects, small micro-credit enterprises and small income-generating projects, in monitoring those projects, and in handling loans and funds. The implementation of these structural projects is underway and is already impacting the villages and the lives of the IDPs. The committees have been giving out loans, some of which have already been used for buying and selling cows and sheep. Some farmers bought one or two cows, others sheep; and they are happy to have been given this chance. As one of them said: “We are thankful for the opportunity to have these loans and to be able to start our small livelihood. It is a way for us to earn money and to build our new lives in northern Iraq. It gives us meaning in life and hope for the future. Thanks a lot for your help.”