Christine Edwards 
Climbing into a motorboat, Dr. Abdul-qadir and his colleagues start their day by commuting across the Tigris River in northern Iraq. All three of them live on the opposite side of the river from the medical clinic they work at and the patients they care for. The bridges were all destroyed during the battle to retake the city from ISIS, so twice a day, rain or shine, they commute across the river in an open boat. These are the dedicated medical professionals you’re supporting.
Despite the fact that they have fewer resources than they would like and often have a crowd of people vying for their attention, they feel a deep sense of satisfaction from helping people who have no other medical options.
You support twelve different medical clinics like this across Iraq—each one providing much-needed care to their communities. By making these clinics possible, you’re helping families get antibiotics, medicine, preventative care, and urgent care. You’re giving women a safe place to have their babies. You’re making sure that children receive their immunizations.
You are generously paying the salary of dozens of local doctors, nurses, lab techs, and pharmacists. So far this year you’ve made it possible for them to complete 94,465 medical consultations.
But that’s not all these clinics do.
Several locations have also created safe spaces for women who have experienced gender-based violence. In these spaces, women can receive counseling and support to help them process their experiences and begin to heal.
As part of that process, you’re providing reading lessons and sewing classes for these women to help them heal and move beyond the victim narrative. By helping them realize their own resiliency and strength, you’re helping them fortify their families and rebuild their community. Thank you for caring!
Food for Families in Demolished Old City Mosul
The ancient winding streets and narrow alleys of Mosul’s Old City neighborhood was the tragic location for the final and most destructive battle to retake the city from ISIS. Residents suffered the terrors of bombing and airstrikes but also a severe lack of clean water and food. For over a year you’ve responded to these dire needs.
In the last two months, you’ve delivered 575 packs of food to families here. You gave pantry items like dried lentils, rice, flour, and oil. You also provided 300 hygiene kits for cleaning the house and bathing so that people don’t get skin diseases and infections. These basic necessities are a lifeline for families in this area because they erase the anxiety that comes from being unable to feed your children or keep them from getting ill.
Clean Water for an Entire City
Last winter, you found out that the city water pipes in Mosul had been destroyed and that no tap water was available. Imagine trying to move back home and rebuild when you don’t even have running water! So you embarked on the single biggest project we’ve ever undertaken.
You brought in experts to evaluate the problem and engineer a plan to replace the water pipes for the whole eastern half of Mosul. Heavy machines dug out the old, broken pipes and connected new ones. Little by little, across the city, water was restored in shops, homes, and medical clinics. Now that the final sections of pipe in east Mosul are repaired, 1.6 million people have access to clean, running tap water in their homes… all thanks to you!
On the western side of Mosul, several neighborhoods needed new wells drilled because city pipes don’t reach them. You got to work and dug seven wells so that families in that area have access to clean water. Now these families can cook and wash with safe water, which means that our clinics are no longer filled with children suffering from water-borne ailments and skin diseases.
This food and water does more than just meet an immediate need. Having these necessities lets families can focus on the task of rebuilding—clearing away rubble and repairing walls, doors, and windows. It frees people to reopen shops and rebuild their economy. It means streets are coming back to life with the sounds and bustle of commerce and with neighbors exchanging news. You are remaking neighborhoods in Mosul and are bringing hope to young and old alike. Thank you! 
Water for Families Forgotten by Everyone but You
In another, very remote part of northern Iraq, you continue to provide for a small community that could easily be forgotten. Here, about 40 families live in an unofficial refugee camp on a mountain because their hometown is still so unsafe.
Because of their location, they don’t have access to water—they can’t reach a river or stream and can’t drill through the rock to make a well. But you saw their need. You are regularly sending water trucks to fill the tank at each tent. So far this year, you’ve trucked 341,250 liters of water to them.
You have taken the burden of finding this precious, necessary resource off their shoulders so they can concentrate on growing food, healing from their trauma, and figuring out the right time to return home.
You go where no one else will go to love the ones no one else will love.
Thank you for helping the people of Iraq rebuild after ISIS. Thank you for providing the support they need as they struggle to bring life back to their communities.
Your generous donations are making a difference. You are remaking the world with love and helping the people of Iraq know they are not alone.
