World Vision Helping Iraqi Children

World Vision Helping Iraqi Children

World Vision schemes in Iraqi are helping children return to school and keeping families warm over the coming winter.

In western Iraq, students are returning to school after World Vision New Zealand helped to finance the rehabilitation of schools.

Principal of Tha'era Al Arabiya Girls Primary School, Bushra Mahmoud said children were happy to return to school and some could not believe it was the same school they left before the war.

"Last year and the year before when children came to school they were not comfortable. Now they have a school with nice clean walls and new blackboards. Some children quit school two years ago. However, when they saw the rehabilitation and how good the school looked, they returned," Mrs Mahmoud says.

Ma'en Primary School teacher Khaled Rachid Latif says children now want to return to school.

"It is the same as having new school books, having a new school makes them feel good. Some kids say the school and their classroom is better than the house they live in," Mr Latif says.

World Vision has completed the rehabilitation of 12 primary and secondary schools in the western Iraq town of Al Rutba. Schools were replastered, painted, rewired and had ceiling fans, light fittings, blackboards installed.

In the town of Al Rutba, a new four-classroom school has been built by World Vision. The school was officially opened last week and Principal Nafe'e Hamdan says it is a much needed facility for the town.

Although education is essential for Iraqi children, it isn't the only priority. Keeping families warm for the winter is another focus of World Vision in Al Rutba. About 3,400 families have received 'winterisation kits' containing two jackets, two pairs of shoes, a blanket and household cooking items.

© Scoop Media