The second series of training courses began on 9 March and 25 April for sewing and computer respectively. The sewing course lasted until 15 July and the computer finished on 31 May. The table below lists the exam results of all participants:
Karrar is an 18-year-old Iraqi refugee boy who lives in the “Seh-Rah Khorramshar” region of Ahwaz, a destitute, camp-like settlement. Due to lack of refugee documentation, Karrar was not able to sign up in Iranian public school. As there are no informal schools in Ahwaz, he remained illiterate.
Severe chronic or long-term disease can cripple the life of a family in any country. However, IRAC’s refugee patients are more vulnerable than the average patient and family. One example is the Afghan refugee Gholam-Sakhi Afzali. This 45-year-old man, who fled to Iran with his parents as a 5-year-old in 1970, lives with his wife and four small children in one of the poorer regions of Qum.
Seyyed Hamzah al-Moussawi is a 13-year-old Iraqi refugee boy who lives with his family in one of the poor suburbs of the southern Iranian city of Ahwaz. Seyyed Hamzah has three siblings and his father does his best to eke out a meager living by performing various odd jobs, working for a different employer almost every day. Seyyed Hamzah suffers from haemophilia, ....
Sometimes laughter is the best medicine. We all know this saying, but seeing a depressed cancer patient laugh can be the most beautiful experience for a social worker.Wafa Kadhem Hassan is a 47-year-old mother of four who lives in Baghdad. Like so many Iraqi women, she developed breast cancer not long ago. But her suffering does not end here; perhaps, her own disease is the smaller part of her suffering: Just before falling ill herself.......
On 2 September 2009, IRAC appealed to LFT and to you to fund the construction of a second floor, comprising seven additional classrooms, for Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi refugee students in Jamkaran, near Qum, Iran.
The joint Medical Referral Program LFT and IRAC implement since October 2005 focuses now more and more on Iraqi patients who travel for medical treatment to Iran. More than six years after the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime, medical services in Iraq remain insufficient. While private diagnostic centres offer excellent facilities, poor patients often cannot afford to pay for their services. Moreover, once a diagnosis has been made, treatment is frequently unavailable in Iraq.
In November 2009, IRAC reported the registration of the first batch of 25 trainees in Imam Ja’far al-Sadeq Skills Training Centre. 25 applicants had signed up, 12 for the computer course and 13 for the sewing course.
Both courses are finished and the tables below show the results of each applicant:
Roof Insulation and Purchase and Installation of Doors for 100 Houses in Shaheed Dastgheib Refugee Camp for Iraqi Refugees
2009-12-02
The Islamic Republic of Iran houses Iraqi refugees since the early 1970s. While the great majority of refugees have always been town-based, about 20,000 refugees remained in camps during their stay in Iran. After the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime, the great majority of camp-based refugees repatriated. Today, about 500 families remain in four major camps.
Educational Support for Iraqi Refugee Students Studying in Iran-Zamin School for Iraqi Refugee Children
2009-11-29
In October 2009, IRAC appealed for support with school fees for 71 Iraqi refugee students who study in Iran-Zamin School in Dowlat-Abad – Tehran. After LFT’s positive reply, IRAC called on the students’ parents to apply for registering in the program and submit related documentation. To date, a total of 65 students have registered in the program. The table below shows the number of students from each phase of schooling who registered in the program:
Construction of an Additional Floor Comprising Six Classrooms for Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi Refugee Students
2009-11-18
On 2 September 2009, IRAC appealed to LFT and its generous donors to fund the construction of a second floor, comprising six additional classrooms, for Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi refugee students in Jamkaran, near Qum, Iran. The school’s students, all Iraqi refugees and most of them refugees who arrived after 2003, are until now studying in cramped quarters. Half the classrooms are located in the basement and are dark and airless. All students come from very poor families and their home situation is frequently depressing. Spacey, well-aired and well-lit classrooms will elevate their morals. Children who are comfortable, happy and hopeful for the future study with greater concentration and achieve better grades.
Educational Support for 71 Iraqi Refugee Students Studying in Iran-Zamin School for Iraqi Refugee Children ~ LFT Donors It costs only 15 GBP per month
2009-10-19
In the 2008-2009 academic year, LFT and IRAC jointly supported 79 newly arrived Iraqi refugee students with part of their school fee at Iran-Zamin school in Dowlat-Abad, Tehran. In many parts of Iran, security has still not returned and families do not feel that it is safe enough to return to their former place of residence. Families who have lost their fathers to terrorist attacks and are now headed by the mother have especially grave security concerns. The same is the case for families whose male breadwinners are disabled or chronically ill. Women-headed families who have close relatives in Iran prefer to remain close to them. Some of the families are so traumatized that they cannot imagine that they will live in their homeland again. Ali, Ameneh, Mohammad and Robab Ibrahim Razzouqi, 7 to 15 years old, for example witnessed how terrorists shot into their house and then received death threats from the terrorists over the phone.
LFT-IRAC Joint Project: Skills Training Centre for Refugees in Qum LFT Donors ONLY GBP 52.00 per person per annum
2009-10-18
In April and May 2009, IRAC received funding from LFT to establish a skills training centre for refugees residing in the holy city of Qum, 150 kilometres south of Tehran. The beginning of implementation was rough. IRAC’s staff members spent countless tiring hours trying to find a suitable building. At least two floors with ideally 150 square meters or more per floor, situated in a region of the town that was easily accessible by public transportation and not too far away from the regions where most refugees reside needed to be found. When IRAC had finally found almost ideal premises in mid-August, shortly before the holy month of Ramadhan, the project suffered a major setback: On the day the rent contract was to be signed, the owner of the property suddenly withdrew. After a frantic search, IRAC found another, if a little less ideal building that was rented during the holy month.
Construction of an Additional Floor Comprising Six Classrooms for Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi Refugee Students
2009-10-03
On 2 September 2009, IRAC appealed to LFT and its generous donors to fund the construction of a second floor, comprising six additional classrooms, for Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi refugee students in Jamkaran, near Qum, Iran. Over 600 refugee students, who are still studying in the old, cramped teaching space, impatiently wait for the day when they can occupy their new, spacey, well-aired classrooms.
1,355 Iraqi Refugee Families (6,153 individuals) in nine locations received food baskets containing basic food items as Eftar assistance
2009-10-02
During the holy month of Ramadhan, devout Muslims all over the world strive to attain greater perfection of faith. We refrain from eating and drinking between dawn and dusk, carefully avoid to commit haram actions and recite the Qoran to gain greater rewards from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. In this hadith, the holy Prophet shows us an additional way to gain Allah’s pleasure during the holy month: By making it “spring” for the poor. Many believers habitually make donations to institutions that provide food assistance to poor Muslims during the month of Ramadhan. You, LFT’s always so generous donors, have been at the forefront of these efforts for many years.
Renna Ghanami was a lively six-year-old looking forward to starting school this September when she began to feel sick. Tests showed that the child suffers from leukaemia. Her desperate father applied to IRAC’s office in Ahwaz because he knew that the cost of cancer treatment was completely beyond his means. IRAC first assisted with the cost of health insurance from a UNHCR-sponsored program.
Distribution of Prizes to Outstanding Students of Iran-Zamin School for Iraqi Refugee Children
2009-09-06
With funding from LFT, IRAC supported 60 needy refugee students studying in Iran-Zamin school with part of their school fees during the 2008-2009 academic year. Following its policy to reward outstanding students under its support, LFT also funded prizes for students who had scored 80 and higher.
Appeal to Construct an Additional Floor for Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi Refugee Students
2009-09-04
Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi refugee children was established in October 2002 by a number of Iraqi refugees residing in Qum. The school aims at providing schooling to Iraqi refugee children who were not able to obtain valid refugee documents and are therefore unable to sign up in Iranian public schools. The school is located in the Jamkaran region near Qum. Accommodation is for free in a building that was consigned as Waqf by its former owner, the deceased Seyyed Hussein al-Moussawi. While the basement is used as a Husseiniyeh, the first floor is occupied by Imam Mehdi (as) School. There are six classrooms on the first floor. Due to lack of space, some classes have to be taught in the basement. Temporary partitions have been put up to divide part of the basement into several classrooms:
Orphan, support and permanent assistance report from Iran for the first half of 2009
2009-08-31
Most of us look back on our childhood with a nostalgic longing for a better, more secure and more peaceful life. However, not all children are blessed with a happy childhood. In a world ravaged by war as well as disease, many children have to go through the perhaps most painful childhood experience: The loss of one or both of their parents. In the first six months of 2009, 168 orphans (e.g. children who have lost at least one parent, in most cases the father) have received assistance under IRAC’s orphan sponsorship and orphan support programs. The orphan sponsorship program assists orphans under the age of 15 years. While school attendance is encouraged and monitored, it is not a condition for receiving assistance. In the orphan support program, orphans over 15 years of age a sponsored with the condition that they attend school, university or skills training or work as an apprentice to learn a trade. Attendance is closely monitored. A further 40 needy persons, most of them children living in conditions closely resembling orphan hood, received monthly assistance under the permanent assistance program.
Educational Support for 79 Iraqi Refugee Students Studying in Iran-Zamin School for Iraqi Refugee Children
2009-08-18
Despite improvements, the security situation remains precarious in Iraq and many families cannot live in their home towns. While the majority of these families seek shelter in other Iraqi provinces, some decide to leave Iraq altogether and seek refuge in Iran. Exact statistics about the number of such families do not exist, as they enter Iran with a valid passport and tourist visa. Although these families are now safe, their life is anything but easy in Iran. In addition to coping with a strange language and culture, finding and paying for accommodation, the issue of medical treatment and the education of their children are all issues newly arrived Iraqi refugee families have to tackle without any assistance from the host government.
Medical Referral Program, Iran (June 2009) 117 patients including 38 Cancer patients treated during June 2009 making the total of 4,385 Patients Treated between October 2005 and June 2009 including 1,238 children aged 18 and under.
2009-08-03
The problem of rising incidence of cancer in Iraq is well-known. This month, 37 (a staggering 73 percent) of the 51 patients from Iraq who applied to IRAC for financial assistance with treatment cost suffered from cancer. The disease strikes every age group. Not only the patient but the whole family suffers when one family member is afflicted with cancer. Perhaps the most tragic cases are those of very small children suffering from the disease. The picture above shows two-year-old Lara Karwaan Rashid from the city of Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. Lara developed a malignant tumour behind her right eye and the eye had to be removed together with the tumour in Sulaimaiyah hospital. However, follow-up treatment to avoid spread of the disease was not possible there and doctors advised the family to go to Iran for treatment.
1,330 Needy Iraqi Refugee Families (6,650 persons) Ask for Your Help
2009-07-04
As the holy month of Ramadhan draws closer, Iraqi refugee families in Iran look forward to fasting for the sake of Allah. However, at the same time family fathers and mothers are concerned how they will put nutritious food on the table each night for Eftar so that all family members have the strength to enjoy the full spiritual benefit of fasting. Many Iraqi refugee families live on the margins of society. Most can only work at menial, low-paid jobs. Families that have lost their male breadwinners and are headed by women have even more difficulties to make ends meet. Many families are not able to eat balanced diets. Especially children, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly are at risk of malnutrition. Only Allah knows how many mo’mins worry in their hearts whether they and their families will be able to serve Allah by fasting during the holy month.
Educational Support for 79 Iraqi Refugee Students Studying in Iran-Zamin School for Iraqi Refugee Children
2009-07-04
Dear LFT donors: Research has shown that attending school has a therapeutic effect on children who have gone through traumatizing experiences. School focuses their thoughts on their future, gives them a sense of empowerment and offers a safe environment. Iran-Zamin school is like home away from home for these uprooted children. The teachers speak Arabic and are themselves Iraqi, and the lessons continue where they were interrupted in Iraq. The families of most students intend to return to Iraq as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, their children can continue their education without disruption. As you can see from the table, many families have three and even four school-age children. Even with a good income, paying school fees for so many students would be difficult, let alone with the meagre incomes these families are able to eek out on the edges of the Iranian economy. Give these children a chance to continue their education until they can return to their country. On average, it costs a mere 12 GBP to send a child to school for a month. With 100 GBP, you can pay for a student’s school fees for a whole year.
2008 report on Iraqi / Afghan Orphan sponsorship program, Iran
2009-04-22
IRAC’s joint orphan sponsorship program dates from 2006. Serious monitoring of school performance began in July 2008. IRAC’s program comprises two parts: an orphan sponsorship program for orphans under 15 years of age and a support program for orphans who are more than 15 years old. Educational monitoring differs in the two programs: • In the orphan sponsorship program, school performance is monitored and mothers are encouraged to send their children to school. If a mother tells IRAC’s staff members that her child does not attend school due to financial constraints, IRAC will offer additional educational assistance after investigating the family’s situation and ascertaining their need. However, school attendance is not a condition for receiving the sponsorship.
Purchase of Winter Clothing for 605 Students of Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi Refugee Children
2009-03-04
Imam Mehdi (as) School is an informal school for Iraqi refugee children located in Jamkaran, Qum, Iran. The school is not only completely non-profit, but has a charity character. The principal does not refuse any child and routinely waves the already very low fee for children who are orphaned or whose fathers are too sick to work. Therefore, the very poorest refugee families register their children in this school. Many of them are newly arrived refugees who have fled from sectarian violence. Some have lost their fathers or other family members due to terrorist attacks. Some are severely traumatized because they witnessed violence against family members who in some cases were killed in front of their eyes.
500 GBP from LFT enabled 15 students to continue their studies
2009-02-17
Islam makes it compulsory for every Muslim, man or woman, young or old, to continue to acquire knowledge and skills. Of course, studying is especially important early in life, when a young person acquires an education that will provide the basis for his or her gainful activities throughout a whole life. IRAC received a donation of 500 GBP from Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust, which was earmarked for educational expenses for orphans. Over a period of ten months, fifteen students received varying amounts of assistance that would enable them to continue with their studies
A Chicken per Family Project run by LFT in Iran 4,658 kilos of chicken given to 2,727 families from June 2006 to December 2008
2009-02-17
Proper nutrition is essential for growing children and protein-rich food is especially important. However, when there is a long list of needs to be met from an extremely limited budget, the purchase of nutritious food items is sometimes relegated to the very end of the list. In order to provide at least one nutritious meal with adequate protein content to its orphaned families, IRAC began to distribute a chicken alongside the monthly orphan sponsorship. While cash can be diverted to meeting other needs, mothers have to cook the chicken before it spoils. Apart from physical benefits, orphans and their families also look forward to having a delicious meal together. The importance of this small monthly joy should not be overlooked.
Guidance Centres for Iraqi Patients coming to Iran funded by partly funded by LFT assisted 315 patients
2009-02-08
As is well-known, Iraq’s medical infrastructure has been severely affected by neglect by the Baathist regime, international sanctions, the war that toppled Saddam, the presence of foreign troops in the country and the insecurity and terrorist activities that plague Iraq since 2006. Medical equipment is outdated or has been looted. Specialists have been killed by terrorists or have left the country after being threatened.
2008 Joint LFT – IRAC Sponsorship of 209 Iraqi and Afghani orphans in Iran
2009-02-02
Following the recommendation of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), many Muslim charitable organizations engage in orphan sponsorship programs. The aim of an orphan sponsorship program should be to try and replace the orphan’s absent father – although of course this is never really possible. A father’s most important role is to guide his children so that they can develop their abilities and become useful members of the community. Paying their expenses is only of secondary importance. As we all know, a good education is the best foundation a child can receive and a good father sends his children to school, regardless of how difficult it may be to do that. In the joint IRAC-LFT orphan sponsorship program, great emphasis is therefore based on school attendance and IRAC’s staff members try their best to encourage all benefiting orphans to attend school and study diligently.
Medical Referral Program, Iran (November and December 2008) 95 patients during November 2008 and 117 patients during December 2008 were treated making the total of 3,698 Patients Treated between October 2005 and December 2008 including 1,053 children aged 18
2009-01-26
More than one third of the patients were less than 18 years old. One of them was eleven-year-old Hussein Ghazi Mohammad from Najaf, who suffers from severe PDA. PDA is a congenital heart condition, which can easily be surgically corrected at a young age. Hussein, who is his widowed mother’s only child, underwent surgery when he was six but his condition did not improve. Examination by highly skilled heart specialists in Iran in April 2008 revealed that his surgery was unsuccessful and may actually have had a negative effect on his health. Hussein was not physically fit for another operation. However, the Iranian specialists were able to give him and his mother a ray of hope: They thought that a recently developed treatment with medications would improve the condition of his heart to the point where surgery would be possible.
Skills Training Centre for Iraqi and Afghan Refugees in Qum, Iran
2009-01-25
Hassan studies in 3rd grade high school in Imam Mehdi (as) School for Iraqi refugee children. He is a good student and looks forward to graduating in fall. However, the future is not as bright as it should be for a new high school graduate. Hassan will not be able to attend university as long as he has to live in Iran, and employment opportunities for refugees are severely restricted due to Iran’s labour laws. He dreams of becoming self-employed, of running his own small business and earning enough money to decently support his mother and younger siblings. However, like most refugees, Hassan does not have the necessary skills to become self-employed and does not have the funds to attend a commercial skills training centre.
Distribution of More than 5,500 Items of Stationery to 633 Needy Iraqi Refugee Students
2008-12-03
Imam Mehdi School for Iraqi refugee children was established in 2002 by a number of Iraqi refugees residing in Qum. The school aims at providing an education to Iraqi refugee children who do not carry valid refugee documents and are therefore unable to sign up in Iranian public schools. This year, about half of Imam Mehdi (as) School’s 633 students are from families who recently left Iraq to escape sectarian or ethnic violence.
Medical Referral Program, Iran (September 2008) 76 patients were treated during September making the total of 3,378 Patients Treated between October 2005 and August 2008 including 956 children aged 18
2008-11-09
It is especially important that children receive the medical treatment they need. Their bodies are still developing, and any untreated disease might negatively affect the patient’s health or future. Of the little patients IRAC assisted with treatment cost, eighteen were in need of hospitalization. Of these, eleven received life-saving or essential surgery, ranging from procedures as simple but essential as an appendectomy to complicated procedures including open-heart surgery, repair of a cleft palate and ear and eye surgery. Seven sometimes very young patients needed non-surgical hospital treatment, including three newborn infants needing life-saving treatment for prematurity and respiratory distress.
210 Iraqi and Afghan Refugee Orphan Children Programme Jointly run by LFT and IRAC in Iran
2008-10-21
Refugee children are orphaned more often than children who live in their own country, and the future of an orphaned refugee child is more at risk than that of an orphan who lives in his / her own country. Orphaned refugee children do not have extended family to rely upon for material and emotional report. The only person who can support them is their mother, and widowed refugee women are at a great disadvantage when it comes to providing for their families.
Guidance Centre in Iran for Iraqi Patient coming for treatment in Iran
2008-07-27
In December 2007, IRAC made an appeal to LFT to support the running cost of its guidance centres for Iraqi patients who come to Iran to receive various forms of medical treatment not available in Iraq. Many Iraqi patients come to Iran without the slightest notion where to turn for treatment. Because they do not know any Farsi and are unacquainted with the Iranian medical system, many of them end up in private hospitals that charge very high fees while treatment would have been available at much cheaper rates in government and charity facilities.
LFT reaches to help Husseiniyah Zainabiyah, an Iraqi community centre in Qum
2008-07-18
Cancer is a scourge that strikes Iraqi and Iranian patients alike. The Iranian Cancer Institute, affiliated to Imam Khomeini hospital, one of the biggest and best equipped government hospitals in Iran, performs radiotherapy for Iranians who frequently come from far-away provinces as well as for Iraqi patients. Most of the Cancer Institute’s patients are poor.
Medical Referral Program, Iran (May 2008) 142 patients were treated during May making the total of 2,950 Patients Treated between October 2005 and May 2008 including 829 children aged 18
2008-06-28
One of the aims of IRAC’s Medical Referral Project is to assist patients to obtain treatment, who will preserve of regain their ability to work. In the past few months, IRAC began to cooperate with 15th Khordad Hospital in Tehran. This hospital specializes in trauma surgery and the treatment of burns. Most of its patients are young men who suffered severe traumas due to work accidents. Many of them are Afghan refugees, who were eking out a meagre living with construction work or work in recycling factories. Safety conditions are deplorable and Iranian employers do not feel obliged to pay for the treatment cost of their Afghan employees who were injured during work because they know that Afghans are not going to take them to court.
Appeal for Assistance from Husseiniya Amir al-Mo’mineen in Dowlat-Abad, Tehran
2008-06-18
Husseiniyas are comparable with Islamic community centers. They normally are used for performing ceremonies on religious holidays and holding services for the deceased. However, Husseiniya Amir al-Mo’mineen, which is located in the Dowlat-Abad region south of Tehran, has assumed a different responsibility for several years now. It offers free accommodation to Iraqi patients coming to Iran for treatment. Men and women can sleep in separate facilities. The Husseiniya provides blankets, toilet services and bathing facilities. While conditions are obviously basic, the head of the Husseiniya does his best to provide services that are suitable for patients and their accompanying persons.
LFT receives Appeal to Support 103 Orphans Under 15 Years and 102 Orphans and Needy Young Persons Over 15 Years
2008-06-01
Under this program, orphans are sponsored without any condition in an attempt to replace a small part of the care their father would have provided. However, IRAC realizes that the most important capital an orphan can be given is a sound education. Therefore, the orphans benefiting from this program are encouraged to attend school whenever this is possible, and IRAC’s staff members try to solve problems that prevent an orphan from attending school. Of 103 orphans, 22 are less than six years old. Of the other 81 orphans, 63 orphans (78 per cent) attend school and one orphan attends literacy classes. Five orphans suffer from mental or physical handicaps that make it impossible for them to attend school. Twelve orphans do not attend school due to reasons IRAC is unable to influence, mostly problems with their refugee documents. Many families told IRAC’s staff that IRAC’s sponsorship makes it possible for their children to continue their education.
Forty-five individuals and families were enabled to overcome a desperate situation and continue their lives with GBP 2,000.00 Funded by LFT
2008-05-27
Everyone who works in charity will have painful memories of extremely needy and desperate applicants whose situation does not fit the criteria of any of the available funds. Islamic Sadaqah is a fund whose chief criterion is the need of the recipient. Over a period of almost two years, and with funding amounting to only about 2000 GBP, IRAC was able to assist 45 applicants who were in desperate situations.
Medical Referral Program, Iran (March 2008) {2,697 Patients in total Treated between October 2005 and March 2008 including 772 children aged 18
2008-04-15
Seven-year-old Mohammad Qassemi is a lively and inquisitive child. It seems that his character became his doom when he, unbeknownst to his mother, went to the nearby workshop where his father works as a laborer washing carpets. Wanting to imitate his father, he tried to stuff a carpet into the heavy machinery used for washing and wringing them. Mohammad’s little hands were caught in the machine and by the time it could be stopped, essential damage had been done.
Medical Referral Program, Iran (February 2008) {2,593 Patients in total Treated between October 2005 and February 2008 including 749 children aged 18 and under; {including 12 Cancer patients}
2008-03-28
Wajd Montasar Mohammad Kammouneh is a round-faced 18-year-old from Baghdad who looks younger than her age. Only some almost invisible scars and a light swelling of her face told of her sufferings in the past few years when she and her father applied to IRAC’s office for assistance. Wajd was injured in an accident and suffered severe disfigurement of her face. Initial treatment was provided in Iraq, but neither the skilled specialists nor the surgical devices needed for reconstructing her face were available there and the doctors advised Wajd’s father to take her to Iran. When talking and eating became an increasing ordeal for Wajd due to her disfigurement and her future was jeopardized because of her appearance, the family sold a few possessions to pay for her surgery.
Report and Accounts for Jan and Feb 2008 on Assistance to Elderly Refugees in Sultaniyah Refugee Camp, Iran funded by LFT – GBP 20.00 an average cost per beneficiary
2008-03-16
IRAC’s representative visited Sultaniyah camp in December 2007 to monitor the implementation of the nutrition program and purchase items the refugees would need during the winter. When arriving at the camp he found out that fortunately, UNHCR representatives had also recently visited the camp and provided simple beds, mattresses, pillows and blankets to the elderly refugees. After consultation with IRAC’s management, the representative therefore purchased comfortable, casual clothing and underwear for the elderly refugees.
Distribution of MP3 players and Talking Watches in Dr. Khaza’eli School for the Blind
2008-02-26
It was heart-touching to hear the comments of some mothers. One of them told IRAC’s staff member: “My son is still wearing the jacket you gave him last year. Thank you very much.” The mother of a primary school student said: “You cannot imagine how excited my son is to receive an MP3 player. He is reminding me to attend the distribution ceremony every day for a week now.”
A Chicken per Family ~ 2007 Report
2008-02-25
Since June 2006, LFT and IRAC supplement their joint orphan sponsorship program in Qum – Iran by providing a chicken to each of the orphaned families when they pick up their monthly sponsorship. This may look like an almost meaningless gesture without any impact to many, but in reality the significance of this program, while limited, should not be underestimated.
Appeal for Assistance for Three-year old Patient Needing Exceptionally Costly Lifesaving Treatment
2008-02-13
Three-year old Maha from Basrah in Iraq suffers from thalassemia major. Since the little girl can remember, she has been in need of regular blood transfusions. She used to climb onto the hospital bed with a smile, and when she saw worry plainly written on her father’s face, she would say: “Papa, don’t worry. I will be all right.”
Medical Referral Program, Iran (December 2007) {2,392 Patients in total Treated between October 2005 and December 2007 including 656 children aged 18 and under; 30 patients from Iraq (including 13 Cancer patients}
2008-02-08
Ten-year-old Ali Akbar Ram and his brother Mohammad both suffer from severe physical and mental handicaps. They are bedridden and unable to move on their own. Despite their young age, both brothers began to suffer from severe bedsores. Their doctor warned that the sores might endanger their lives and that a special mattress was indispensable to prevent that the condition progresses and to ease the pain of the two children. Seeing the poverty of the family, he advised that one mattress would be sufficient for both children. Ali and Mohammad’s father is a day laborer who barely earns enough to put food on the table and pay the rent. When the family learned that a mattress would cost about 1 Million Rial (ca 53 GBP), the children’s mother desperately applied to IRAC’s office.
Appeal for Assistance for Two Schools for 557 Refugee Children in Qum – Iran
2008-01-31
Psychological research shows that regular school attendance helps refugee children to adjust to the harsh reality of refugee life. Attending school provides the children with a structured day and prevents idleness or their absorption into the labour market at a much too early age. Moreover, it gives them a sense of empowerment and control of their future.
Appeal from Khaza’eli School for the Blind, Tehran
2008-01-09
IRAC again received an appeal for assistance from Khaza’eli School for the Blind. The school is located in downtown Tehran and teaches 101 boys from 1st primary to 3rd high school. Almost all students are from needy families and cannot afford special audio-devices that allow blind students to study independently and without the assistance from a person with normal vision.
Guidance Centres for Iraqi Patients Coming to Iran for Treatment
2007-12-12
Since the toppling of Saddam’s regime in 2003, the situation in Iraq has continued to deteriorate due to lack of security. Sectarian strife and terrorist and criminal activities make it difficult to govern the country and prevent reconstruction. The medical sector has been especially affected. Medical infrastructure and equipment, already badly affected by Saddam Hussein’s misgovernment and international sanctions during the final period of his reign, was hard-hit by extensive looting after the Baathist regime was toppled. Physicians and specialists have been subject to threats and attacks by terrorists. According to a report recently published by the British medical watchdog agency Medact, of 34,000 Iraqi physicians registered before the 2003 war, 18,000 have left the country, 2,000 have been murdered and 250 kidnapped. This leaves Iraq with a mere 13,750 physicians, most of them with an inferior level of training and without access to current developments in medicine, for a population of more than 26 million, that is one physician for every 1,890 Iraqis. The situation is even worse when it comes to specialist care.
Monitoring visit to Sultaniyah camp, Iran {Aged Iraqi Refuges}
2007-11-22
On 10 November 2007, IRAC’s representative paid a visit to Sultaniyah camp to monitor the feeding program for nine refugees who have no family. Some of the beneficiaries of this project are elderly or chronically ill. The table below shows the situation of each of the beneficiaries and their needs at the beginning of the cold season:
A Chicken per Family Project for Iraqi and Afghan Refugees in Iran – January to September 2007
2007-10-24
Families that lost their male breadwinners and are headed by a woman are chronically short of money. Mothers who have to care for several orphans are needed at home and cannot leave the house to work and gain an income. Many also lack the necessary skills or are not healthy enough to work.
