Over 22 thousand dollars donated to the Iraqi Church to respond to the refugees' needs. The funds used to support the needs of the families, buying furniture and medicines, to help local micro-projects development. Pastor of Amadiya: to " AsiaNews readers my personal gratitude and that of the refugees."
Erbil (AsiaNews) - Money to support the needs of displaced families still housed in shelters managed by the Chaldean Church. What’s more, the funds for the purchase of medicines, furniture and beds, as well as targeted funding to support the development of micro-projects at a local level. These are just some of the many ways in which the money sent by the readers of AsiaNews as part of the "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" campaign have been used. This initiative was launched by our agency, to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people who fled from Mosul and the Nineveh plain with the rise of the Islamic State (IS).
Fr. Samir Youssef, is pastor of the diocese of Amadiya (Kurdistan), which handles 3,500 displaced families, Christians, Muslims, Yazidis who have fled their homes and their lands to escape the jihadists. The priest is at the forefront of the crisis since the summer of 2014, when the emergency began.
In recent weeks, some of the donations collected during the campaign had allowed a group of young Christian Iraqis to participate in the World Youth Day (WYD) in Poland. A "crucial support", the pastor says on that occasion, without which "it would have been very difficult to make the pilgrimage."
The final amount raised in the context of the campaign and sent to the Iraqi Church is of 20 thousand euro, equal to US $ 22,400. Fr. Samir reports that the money was used to meet the following needs:
$ 100 distributed to 150 families for daily needs, for a total value of $ 15 thousand.
$ 3,250 for the purchase of furniture (wardrobes and beds).
$ 2,750 to finance micro-projects, including cafeterias and mini-shops, to ensure work for refugees.
$ 1,400 in medicine.
"I want to thank AsiaNews – says Fr. Samir - and through him all readers and friends for the aid you sent to our refugees. " To all of you, he adds, "I express my personal gratitude and that of our brothers and sisters who live as refugees." "May the Lord bless all donors - says the priest - for the joy that they give to these families."
AsiaNews launched the campaign "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" in the aftermath of the tragedy, to respond to the emergency and immediate needs. Given the success, it was decided to continue the fundraising to try to meet long-term needs.
The goal is to ensure all families a safe and stable home where they can live; the overall cost of the project is about 3.5 million Euros; so far the campaign has collected and sent about 1.5 million.