Iraqi Refugees

Through the Spirit in Action Flow Fund we provide humanitarian support and small grants to Iraqi refugees living in Syria and Jordan.

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We still remember our journey out of Baghdad in March 2003, days before the bombing started for the “Shock and Awe” military campaign in Iraq. What will happen to our friends, we wondered – the kids at the orphanage, the school children, the nurses in the hospital, the musicians, the drivers, translators and families we had met and talked with over the past months? Perhaps, despite our forebodings it would be a mercifully short war with little collateral damage.

Well, we all know the story of the last 7 years. It has not been a short war. There is much collateral damage. The country is in ruins. Hundreds of thousands are estimated to be dead – but the fact is we really don’t know how many have died. It is not in our government’s interest to count. We are told things are better in Iraq now. But as one Iraqi man in Jordan said: “Three years ago the violence was at level 5, then it went up to level 8 and now it is back to level 5 and they are calling it good. It is not good back there. It is not safe”.

There are two terrible costs to this war that are for the most part invisible: first are the significant mental health problems of returning American troops, and second are the millions of displaced Iraqi refugees. It is estimated that 2,580,000 are presently living in neighboring countries. Most of them are poor and many suffered kidnappings, rape, torture and loss of family members to violence. They wait to go somewhere else to start life again. Less than 1% will be relocated.

We feel called to respond to this refugee crisis. It is our taxes that supported the devastation of their lives and homes. While we couldn’t stop the war, at least we can now make a gesture to let a few Iraqis know they are not forgotten.

We have learned over the years administering the Spirit in Action Flow Fund that giving money to poor people in foreign cultures is an art. It helps to be close to those who are in need. A colleague of ours, Cathy Breen, who had been with us in Iraq before the war, has been working for several years on behalf of Iraqi refugees in Jordan. Cathy is a lay Catholic worker, lives very simply in a community house in New York and spends up to half her time each year in Jordan and now with our support in Syria. We have asked her to work with us distributing the monies we raise.

Cathy gives the money in small grants – usually in the range of $200-$400 – to Iraqi individuals and families in great need. Of course it is a small gesture – but to a hungry family it is dearly welcome. The money is given in the spirit of generosity and trust. The only thing we ask is that Cathy share with us stories about the refugees’ reality so that we can share them with you.

If you feel moved to donate to the Spirit in Action Flow Fund we would be extremely grateful, as will those who receive your gift. We take no administration fees for this transfer.

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