Heating Oil for the Poor

Heating Oil for the Poor

Or: A little bit is at least better than noting...

 Iraq is one of the countries with the largest oil-reserves worldwide - but otherwise thousands of IDPs in Iraq even don´t have any heating oil to get a warmed up shelter during cold and rainy winter days and nights.

Just a few hours before leaving Iraq once again and travelling back to Germany, i made - knowing, that it would only be a very, very small gesture - the spontaneous decision to do what i was able to do and invest 150 $ to provide heating oil to at least some families.

I was thinking about some yazidi families that have to spend already the third winter in simple tents and windy shelters, as they did not find place in orgenized camps.

But it should turn out very soon, that this plan was absoultely unpracticable. A friend told me: If you are going to deliver heating oil to ten families in a place, where 100 families live, this will cause a lot of tensions among the people there. So better wait until you will be able to provide oil ta all the families there and give the ten bottles of oil to poor people in another place, where it will cause less tensions.

The oil was ordered, there were only some hours before I had to leave and go to the airport… So I asked myself, what to do now?

Of course, I had been offered to cancel the ordered oil, but that was not, what I intended to do, as then noone would have any help. So I finally decided to distribute the 10 bottles, each filled with 22 liters of heating oil, to poor IDP families in Alqosh.

The first stop was a former school building in the center of Alqosh´s old town, where six extremely poor IDP families live. Some days before I had visited them for the first time with the members of a local NGO that were distributing some Christmas gifts to them, so I knew, how needy they are. And I was quite shocked, when members of that families told me, that during more than two years they had not been supplied with heating oil from anyone – a sentence I should hear repeatedly on that Dec. 30 of 2016.

Its just too many IDP families that are depending for 100% on help from outside, as they have nothing (they lost everything, when they had to flee ISIS in 2014) and also have no chance for earning an income. Of course, especially the churches and many organisations d a lot of great work in supporting those people. But they can´t cover all the needs, that´s the problem.

So it is especially old and sick people, that suffer during winter time, as their health gets worse and their situation turns from bad to more bad with every month passing by…

It was only a small help – but I know, I have been able to bring at least a little bit of joy to some of those people (also I know that 22 liters of heating oils are only enough to provide warmth for some few hours). But I hope, on my next visit I will be able to refill the bottles (we asked them to give them back for refillment) and maybe, with the help of other people, be also able to provide more suffering people with heating oil.

Did i end up in Havanna?

I´m walking around „Armenia“, the street that is connecting Beirut´s „Martyr Square“ with Burj Hamoud, the Armenian quarter of Beirut. In a past time, the area around „Armenia“ – the harbour-quarter, must have been one oft he reasons, why they called Beirut „the Paris of the Middle East“.

But the French charme has passed away long time ago, during the civil war that destroyed not only the people, but also the substance of Lebanon. If there weren´t the quite new cars, one could get the imagination of walking somewhere in Havanna, Cuba. I´ve never been there, but the morbidity reminds me of all the pictures i have seen from there.

It´s lost glamour. Mixed up with some charme that is still alive – but destined to finally pass away. Maybe one day, they will revive some of Havanna´s charme. But the old charme if Beirut will come to an end. The colonizers oft he 21st century seem to have different playgrounds than those of the 19th and 20th. And the investors of the 3rd milennium are rich, but heartless. Their cities are cold as ice and built of concrete, glass and steel. They are not allowed to have something like a soul.

October 8, 2016

Falafel & Chai: Maher

Peshmerga, Muslims, Yazidi, Christians, old and young people:
They all come to buy some of Mahers Falafel.

And its mostly IDPs from the Ninive-plains, that are sitting in the shade in front of his small shop and drink some chai...

Maher lives in Bandawaia, a small christian village just nearby to Alqosh. His small Falafel bar in just in the center of Alqosh. I will miss my daily visit there when i will leave Alqosh. I like sitting there, drinking a cup of Chai, looking at the streetlife - and just waiting whom you meet.

Every day its different, sometimes its nice surprises...

2016/09/26

They love the cross - "Cross Day" celebrations in Alqosh

In Alqosh - like everywhere in the Middle East, the celebrations of "Cross Day" (exsaltation of the Holy Cross) start in the evening before with processions, the lighting of bonfires and a lot of fireworks.

The additional speciality of Alqosh is surely the large cross in the mountains above the village. They prepared it well, as you will see.

The feast day itself, the reliqs of the Holy Cross are venerated (as they are venerated worldwide by the faithful).

Forming the procession towards the mountain

the square in front of old Mar Micha church

I just love this - you can only find it in Alqosh, nowhere else

forming up...

the procession climbs up the mountain, praying and singing...

Alqosh: Mar Micha church, Mar Georgis church and the cemetry in the background

Abuna Ghazwan lighting the bonfire

the large cross in the mountain above Alqosh

the highlight of the evening

fireworks in the mountains and down in the village

Abuna Ghazwan presenting the relic of the Holy Cross

Procession with the relic of the Holy Cross in the churchyard of Mar Georgis

veneration of the Holy Cross

God called him through the blood of the martyrs - the story of a 3rd millennium vocation in Iraq

God called him through the blood of the martyrs

Abuna Martin banni after his ordination, Sept. 9, 2016

 Some years ago a young man from Qaramles, a small town in the Nineva-plains, nearby to Mosul, decided to follow God´s call and become a priest.

It´s been an unusual step for a young man of 18 who lives in Iraq, a country, where Christins have been diminuished towards being a small minority oft he population. At the time the young man made his decision, in end of 2009, beginning 2010, hundreds of thousands of Christians had already left Iraq and emigrated to Europe, the US or Canada, searching for a better life there.

Far too many oft hem had been violated, abducted, threatened and murdered – and the number of martyred Christians that were killed only because of their faith had been rapidly increasing since Al-Kaida had started operating in Iraq in 2003.

A´buna Martin in the square of Qaramles IDP camp

At the time Martin, that young man, decided to follow God´s call to priesthood, i knew nothing about Christians in Iraq. I was knowing nothing about Iraq at all… Well, of course, i had heard of Ninive in the holy Bible. But for me that was very far away past. Euphrates, Tigris, Mesopotamia… so far, far away back in ancient times. And Iraq: well, i knew there were Saddam Hussein, Baath party – and war. A lot of war and destruction. Just far away, so far away, that it was absolutely out of my interest.

I think Martin lived like all the boys of his age, when he was growing up in Qaramles, an assyrian christian village quite near to Mosul, near the Tigris river. Visiting catechetic lessons, learning Syriac, the old language oft he church and how to sing the liturgical chants. And sure he joind the liturgic service. And  somewhen it happened that a special relation with Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul started.

Martin tells me that the day after he was ordained priest, when i visited him at „Qaramles IDP-Camp“ in Ankawa, as were standing in the large square oft he camp, near the large banner depicting Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho. „My bishop“, he says, „was again and again asking me, when i will be entering the seminary, when i was in an age of 15, 16.“ It looks like the archbishop had realized something. Had realized, that there was a boy with a special vocation within the youth of his diocese.

The poster depicting Fr. Ragheed Ganni and Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho

At that time Martin used to hear that repeated question, but he could not imagine to really become a priest. Then, on 3rd of June 2007, the chaldean priest Fr. Ragheed Ganni and three deacons were shot by Al-Kaidas terrorists in Mosul. It was a shocking incident, that was surely more frightening, than encouraging for Martin, when he was considering about what was the right way for him to go.

Some month later, in the last days of February 2008, archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was kidnapped by Al-Kaida. His three guards were shot. The corpse oft he archbishop was found weeks later in the trunk of a car. He had been warned and threatened, but he stood up for his faith. And he became a martyr for Jesus Christ. The martyrium of archbishop Rahho was the turning point for Martin. He remembered his questions, asking him „Martin, when will you entert he seminary?“ And now he knew: YES, God called him – it was loud and clear – he had to become priest. So he entered the seminary.

When the terrorists oft he Islamic State stormed the Ninive-plains in August 2014 and came towards Qaramles, Martin was there, as he visited his family. It was holidays, the time oft he great summer heat, when temperatures us to rise up to 50° Celsius or more. The inhabitants of Qaramles fled in a hurry, had no time to take anything with them, just the clothes they wore, to get into security. Nobody was thinking about the church and Jesus being thzere in the tabernacle.

It was Martin, the young seminarist, who went tot he church, bringing himself into great danger, opened the tabernacle, took the most Holy Sacrament out and brought it to Ankawa to prevent it from desecration by the islamists…

Martin on the way to spend out Holy Communion during the ordiantion mass

That deed pointed out the determination, still (or even more) visible today in Martins speech and actions. You feel it, you realize it, when he stands there in the large square oft he IDP-camp, surrounded by children, saying: Please, pray, that Mosul and the Ninive-Plains will soon be liberated, as we want to go back to Mosul and the Ninive-plains. They are our home and destination!“

Martin Banni, chaldean Christian, lives in an IDP-camp in Ankawa, Iraq. September 9th 2016 he was ordained pries in Ankawa by Patriarc Louis Raphael Sako. He is a living testimony showing the fruits the suffering and persecuted martyrs-church of Iraq is bearing.

Yesterday, September 22nd 2016, Martin Banni celebrated his 25th birthday. May God bless him!

Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako ordaining Martin Banni and Awakem Isleiwa

New ordained priests Martin banni and Awakem Isleiwa

The author with Abuna Martin Banni

Abuna Martin: Under the cross, surrounded by children...

Teresa from Tel Esqof - will she ever return home?

It depends on the sun, where Teresa is sitting. Every day she sits outside of the refuge, she and her family found in Alqosh after they had to flee from ISIS in 2014.

While she sits there she is sewing traditional clothes of Tel Esqof, her hometown. Tel Esqof is now a ghost-town. Only Peshmerga and a command of NPU is living there. Many of the intact houses have been destroyed during the massive attack ISIS performed the 3rd of May 2016.

Teresa Daoud Ishak is 80 years old. Will she ever be able to return home?

The children of their Age had no normal Childhood

I met these children when i was walking around in Alqosh to take some pictures of the setting sun. From far they saw me and shouted "Picture! Picture!", so i went towards them and took some pictures.

I don´t know their names. And i don´t know, if they are from Alqosh or if they are IDPs, diesplaced from the nearby christian villages of the Nineva plains.

But what i know, ist that they all had noch normal childhood, as two years ago, when ISIS entered and overran the Nineva plains they all experienced traumatizing things.

All the people of the Nineva plains fled in a hurry during that days. Many fled to Alqosh and from there - together with Alqosh´s people up into the mountais to find refuge.

These children - and so many other children in the Middle East - need help. They need to experience trustable security and stable conditions. 

To build this, a lot of help and support from outside is necessary, as all the people of the Nineva plains are more or less traumatized. They don´t trust anyone any more. So they deserve help...

I can only help by spreading pictures and talk about what happened and what is the need. I know my abilities are just like a small drop of water on a hot stone...

"Global" families - very typical for Iraqi Christians

"Global" families, very typical for Iraqi Christians

Basiem runs a small shop near the old market of Alqosh, Nineva, Iraq. While i am walking by in the hot sun, he invites me to come in and drink some water and the obligatoric tea.

We communicate with hand and feet and a mixture of my little arabic knowledge and all the english he knows. What he tells me is absolutely typical for the Iraqi Christians (and, of course, many people of the Middle East:

Basiem has five sisters: Two of them live in Australia, to in New Zealand and the fifth in Canada. His brother is in Detroit, USA. One Cousin lives in Germany, another in Sweden. His daughter lives in Canada and his son, who is a doctor, moved to Amman in Jordan.

And he telles, that he is old and sees no future in Iraq, so he also wants to leave...

"Nine-One" 2016 - more than only a military victory for NPU (Ninive Protection Units)

On first of September 2016 the NPU (Ninive Protection Units) performed their first mayor totally self-conducted operation in the fight against ISIS in North Iraq and successfully liberated the village of Badanah. It was the first time ever that NPU, which is an assyrian christian unit incorporated into the armed forces of Iraq, launched an attack backed by air support of the US led coalition.

After the successful operation, media around the globe reported about this operation - in several countries and languages, And this was the even more importand victory than the success in the battlefield!

Why?

It´s quite simple: Because this success broke down the walls of silence that were built up around the NPU during the past months, mostly by the kurdish Peshmerga forces and the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) in Erbil. As you may know, the Peshmerga forces are controling the autonomous region of Kurdistan and also those parts of the Nineva province, that are not occupied by by the terrorists of ISIS.

So, as General Aboosh Behnam, the commander of the NPU, stated personally to me in several interviews and talks, visitors and journalists never got permission to visit NPU forces in the frontline areas. Neither at Tel Esqof, where NPU is (next to to Peshmerga and other forces that are under command of Peshmerga) present with about 100 fighters, nor at the Khazer river, where NPU is present with another about 100 men (these men performed the attack of September 1st).

Even journalists being at Tel Esqof for a visit and knowing that NPU is also there (just around the corner of the local Peshmerga Headquarters) did not get permission to visit NPU.

Yes, you may think that this is crazy, but it is just the plain truth. One of the main reasons surely is the fact, that NPU´s first aim is their independence. Why?

Some months before ISIS attacked and conquered the Nineva-plains in 2014, the people of the Assyrian/Aramean monority (as well as the Yazidi and the members of other minorities) were told to hand out their weapons to the kurdish authorities and the Peshmerga claimed to protect them. But when ISIS came, neither Peshmerga, nor the Iraqi Army took efforts to protect them and stop ISIS. So hundreds of thousands only had the chance to save their life by running away leaving everything behind.

It was a bitter experience, and many Assyrians/Arameans lost any trust into the promised protection. So they thought about what they can do to avoid finding themselves helpless once again one day. It was a long way from there to September 1st of 2016, but that´s another story...

Fact is, that from now on, the world knows about the existence of the brave assyrian/aramean fighters of NPU that are actively and successful engaged in liberating the Nineva plains. So hopfully the blockade of journalists will end soon and it will be possible to visit NPU forces in Tel Esqof and in Khazer.

Do you see the desire in my eyes?

Do you see the desire in her eyes?

This girl is dressed in the colourful traditional clothes of the Nineva-plains. She had to flee from ISIS, when she was a little child, when the islamic terrorists came in summer 2014 and conquered the Nineva-plains. Since more than two years her family spend their life in Ashti2 IDP-camp near Ankawa - and there is no hope for them that things are changing.

In her eyes you can see this one question you can see this ONE question that everyone in the IDP-camps of North-Iraq is asking: When will we be able to return to our villages, to our houses to live a normal life? Will this day ever come?

My home is in the Nineva-Plains. ISIS conquered my parents home and village. How long will i have to stay in Ashti2 IDP-Camp in Anakwa until me and my familiy will be allowed to return to our home?

This gilr is wearing the typical traditional clothing of the Nineva-plains.

Typical ensembles of houses are a part of Tur Abdins Cultural Heritage

Typical ensembles of houses are a part of Tur Abdins Cultural Heritage

A typical ensemble of several houses in Mziza, Tur Abdin

 In the end of the 20th century there had been efforts to get the whole region or at least parts of Tur Abdin declared as a Cultural World Heritage. As there was not enough interest and resonance these efforts failed and noone took them up again.

But its a pity, as Tur Abdin is surely a region with a huge and immense cultural heritage, containing cultural heritage sites of several millennia up to the present. And all that heritage should be preserved and protected.

This post deals about one small puzzle-piece of Tur Abdins cultural heritage: a typical ensemble of houses in the village of Mzizah in the Midyat region of Tur Abdin.

Arrangements like this are quite common in several villages. Several housings are building a small complex in which structures of different age and style are together. 

Details of the buildings at the right side of the ensemble

 On the right hand there is a clear cubic building on the rooftop of an elder building. The arrangement shows its been the house of a quite wealthy man. It would be interesting to have a look into the interior, what was not possible as time was rare and the evening came.

Detail of the building at the left

On the left side there is a quite different building, which was surely the home of more simple and poor people. It looks like it was built in at least two steps.

The picture below shows a detail of that building:

The entrance