Iraq, ISIS, Libya, Syria June 10, 2015

To All The Peacemakers: ISIS A Year Later

Jeremy Courtney

Displaced children in Iraq, Shabaks from Sinjar, gather under a grey sky.

It’s midnight in Iraq. One year ago, Iraqi Armed Forces in Mosul were hightailing it out of town. On June 10th, the world was introduced to ISIS as Mosul fell.

It has been an insane year filled with horror that ranks among the worst the world has ever known. Mass killings, beheadings, enslavement and rape, the displacement of millions and the rapid spread of ISIS’s malign influence from Mosul to Libya and other parts of Africa.

We’ve been tempted to retreat ourselves at times, and certainly tempted to play it safe. But you continue to dig in.

Three displaced children in Baghdad stand in their temporary home. The space is dark and empty, the concrete walls and floor bare.

A year ago, as the streets began to fill with those displaced by ISIS, we didn’t have any funds for relief or “empowerment”.

Now we’ve helped 16,500+ people and given over $1,000,000 to remake the world destroyed by ISIS and other violent actors.

A displaced Iraqi girl waits her turn to get a coat.

A young displaced boy got a new coat to keep him warm through the winter.

The needs of the people of Iraq, Libya, & Syria remain immense. Thankfully, you’ve granted us incredible favor and trust. Your blogging, Instagram posts, discussions with friends over coffee, offerings, monthly sponsorships, and fundraising have helped raise over $1,000,000 in just three weeks!

Our local staff and local partners are actively working to get this money to those who need it most, in the form of food and water in Anbar, education in Kirkuk, and empowerment grants all across the country. Still, we have millions of dollars in proposals that still need to be met.

Emergency relief goods are distributed from the back of a truck, to families in Baghdad displaced by ISIS.

Desks and white boards are delivered to Kirkuk, for a summer education programme, which will combine students from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

I’m proud to be in this movement and on this journey with you. You remind me we are not helpless against ISIS, nor the bigotry in our own hearts. And you remind me it’s OK to be afraid. You inspire me to love anyway.

With you,

Jeremy Courtney

CEO/President

A young displaced Iraqi boy eats his lunch in a temporary home.

Tagged: Anbar Baghdad caliphate Empowerment grant Fall of Mosul IDP internally displaced people internally displaced people in Iraq Iraqi Armed Forces IS ISIL Islamic State June 10 kirkuk north africa Ramadi small business start-up tamkeen Tamkeen Project

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