We Are With You Campaign - Baghdad Iraq 2020

Over 800,000 children were orphaned as a result of the Iraq War and the ISIS occupation displaced more than 1.3 million. One in five Iraqi children now work to support themselves and their families. They face threats of starvation, exploitation, and violence in their day to day lives. And just when matters couldn’t get worse after 30 years of war in the nation, the Coronavirus struck. Our organization has already witnessed the heartbreak of children who have had a parent killed by militants or mortars. Now as a further level of anguish, we have an increasing number of orphans who have seen a parent die from the Coronavirus.

Ramadan is usually a time of hope and celebration in the Muslim world. But in Ramadan of 2020, the streets and mosques of Baghdad remained empty as lockdowns kept people at home. Orphans and widows were unable to support themselves. Their families were in a state of crisis.

This is when our organization stepped in with our “We Are with You,” campaign. Our on the ground connections with the local community enabled us to work with the mayor and other city officials to get the most up-to-date information on which families were the neediest. They connected us with the poorest slums of the city. The families we served were mainly made up of orphans and widows.

With a budget of $25,000, we were able to provide food to 1,730 families in this time of crisis. We gave each family one food basket (which cost $23). One food basket contained 5 kg of rice, 2 cans of oil, 2 kg of flour, dates, 1 kg of beans, 1 kg of lentils, 2 cans of cheese triangles, lettuce, 2 bags of macaroni, chicken luncheon, meat luncheon, 2 cans of tomato paste, 200 grams of tea, and milk.

We also distributed pamphlets to these families on how to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

This campaign took place in northeastern Baghdad, central and southern Baghdad, and surveyed other large areas.

We would like to thank the Benevolent Hands team in Iraq for their support in this endeavor as well as all our donors, sponsors, and staff for participating in the success of this initiative.