It is now almost a year since they fled. As the days go by, their hopes of returning home are fading. They can see that Islamic State was not a passing phenomenon, but is militarily stronger now than a year ago.
Parents are increasingly hopeless about their children not being able to attend school. They want - Like any other parent - want their children to have good future prospects.
Image: We can ensure that children don't go idle, but can learn and have a future.
Christians and other minorities on the run need us to encourage them. One of the best ways we can encourage them is to give their children the opportunity to go to school.
Khalid: "...it's good news that you will provide schooling for our children"
Khalid* is a convert to the Christian faith and father of four children. He lives in a refugee settlement 10 kilometers from the Islamic State front. He tells us: "We have been waiting a whole year to return to our home since we had to flee Islamic State. The Iraqi government had promised to retake Mosul this summer, but the Islamic State is getting stronger and we are trapped in this poor refugee settlement with no work and no electricity."
Khalid continues: "Winter is cold and summer is hot. We long to get back, and many lose hope. What should we do if our children can't go to school? We are worried about our children - and their future. Do we have a future here? But it's good news that you want to provide schooling for our children. It gives us hope and light in a dark tunnel time. Thank you very much."
Khalid has converted to the Christian faith. A man like Khalid and his family need our support.
In the project, the 1.850 children the opportunity to go to school. Both children from Christian and non-Christian backgrounds attend school in the project.
Teaching takes place in three schools near the town of Kalak in Erbil province, where there are many refugee settlements not far from the Islamic State front. See the project budget here:
Budget for one school
School year September 2015 to May 2016
Copier - 6,609 kr.
Laptop (for sharing) - 3,304 kr.
Materials for teachers and classrooms - 3,304 kr.
Materials for students - 19,824 kr.
Salary for 4 teachers for 8 months - 105,739 kr.
(Each teacher receives 3,304 kroner per month,
and the school year lasts 8 months)
Total for one school 138,780 kr.
In total for three schools. 416,340 kr.
It only costs DKK 225 to ensure that a refugee child in Iraq receives schooling between September 2015 and May 2016.
Let me also tell you about Laila*. She is 14 years old and the second of five siblings. She is Kakai, a minority similar to the Yazidis, and comes from the Nineveh Plain. She is among the first school children to attend school in the project we support.
Laila: "I'm so happy that I get the opportunity to go to school."
Laila explains: "I'm so happy that I can go back to school. I like going to school and was good at school, but we suddenly had to flee last summer and since then we have been waiting to go home. We still can't go home. Still on the horizon we see bombardments of the area where we come from. Here we have to live together in a very small unfinished apartment block - me and my family with uncles and aunts."
"Everyone here speaks Kurdish and we don't understand it. I want to go home as soon as possible - everything is better there. But at least now I have the opportunity to go to school after not going to school for a year. I'm so happy that I have the opportunity to go to school."
Many children like Laila need our concrete and practical help so they can go to school.
Thank you for giving to these vulnerable refugee children. Your gift brings smiles to the faces of children and adults who are refugees in their own country.
You can give children like Laila* and a father like Khalid* and his children hope and faith in the future that they wouldn't otherwise have.
Support
PS: Will you pray for the Islamic State terrorists? Let's pray for the Holy Spirit to work among them, that they may come to faith in Jesus, turn from evil and have a brand new life.
