Street Lawyers, Doctors, Hope Buses for Iraqi Kids

Our terrific partners in Baghdad - the street lawyers and social workers - have been busy!  Since they launched the new "Hope Bus" in May, 50 boys and girls are already attending classes and getting nutritious meals in this eye-catching mobile classroom and center.  Another 5 children are registered but unable to attend because of limited capacity.  Among these 55 kids (ages 7-10) are 31 girls and 24 boys;  21 of them are orphans who have lost a father, mother, or both.  

For a window into the joy this mobile classroom brings to these kids, watch  "Light Amongst Us:  School in a Bus", aired by Alhurra TV in Baghdad.  Even if you don't speak Arabic, you will enjoy the pictures.  

In the meantime, the Baghdad street lawyers and social workers continue rescue operations for at-risk kids on the streets, orphans, and children displaced from their homes by conflict. They provide life-changing legal protection to kids caught in the juvenile justice system, obtain legal documents required for school, secure access to medical care, take action against abuse and neglect, and more.  

A short summary of the impact of this project - by the numbers - is told below.  But the heart of the impact your donations make possible are best told in the stories of these children, like Saad who almost went to prison for a crime he didn't commit and 13-year-old orphan Noor who narrowly escaped early marriage because her poor aunt needed the money it would bring.  Here are results of the impact of the first year of this initiative:

• 208 boys and girls received legal aid and protection.
• 256 children received legal ID documents required to attend school, get government food and other benefits.
• 258 children were provided social services such as health care, intervention to prevent abuse or early marriage, and family reunification.
• 450 boys and girls attended training sessions to teach them to stay away from illegal activities, avoid being exploited by criminals and extremist, and how to respond if arrested.
• 25 adults were trained to serve as “Child Protection Units,” a neighborhood safety net for at-risk kids, and a hotline was set up to take phone calls concerning children in need.
• 57 children benefitted from 14 home-based income projects, giving them the chance to stop working, collecting cans from the trash, or begging on the streets.
• 52 kids received gifts of clothing, including clothes for school.

All of us at ICF are grateful for your generous support.  With your help we can sustain and even expand these initiatives for Iraq's most vulnerable kids.  

Thanks for being a part of the team!

Links:

• Join us on Facebook
• Visit Iraqi Children Foundation's website