I have been working in Caritas Iraq since mid-2015 as a presenter of psychosocial support lectures within the women’s empowerment programmes which were held at Caritas Iraq – Duhok office.
After the approval of a new psychosocial support programme in 2017, we received training and I became responsible for the implementation of the programme in the northern region of Iraq.
Today, I’m responsible for seven psychosocial care providers throughout the programmes of Caritas Iraq, and I supervise sixteen psychosocial care providers.
Displaced children in northern Iraq attend Child Support Centers run by Catholic Relief Services in partnership with Caritas Iraq. The children, ages 6-12, many of whom have experienced trauma when forced from their homes by the Islamic State (IS), attend the centers twice a week for a few hours. There, they participate in a variety of activities aimed at introducing some routine and normalcy back into their lives. Activities include games, art, sports and basic education. CRS trains volunteers from the displaced community as ‘animators’ to provide some structured time and support for the children.
Photo by Kim Pozniak/Catholic Relief Services
Our work centres on assisting and empowering the women and children beneficiaries particularly who left their residential areas in Nineveh villages as an outcome of the occupation of these areas by ISIS who spread killing, intimidation and terrorization. Thousands of displaced people suffered from psychological traumas, poverty and losing the meaning of life and total desperation. This pain renewed after four years when they returned to their original areas which were liberated from ISIS to find their houses either destroyed or burned down. We will lead the beneficiaries through psychological courses to heal the wounds, learning strategies to overcome this bitterness, looking with hopeful eyes for the future and adapting to reality.
More than 1000 women have participated in the programme, and have received training in psychological trauma and recovery, conflict management and peace building, and psychological care. The project has been renewed annually since it started.
As a woman, Caritas Iraq gave me many opportunities on training and learning to hold many roles. These roles increased through many trainings I received locally, some through Caritas Iraq and others through other organisations.