Displaced families find shelter in an empty office building

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The stairs are narrow and dark. The air is chilly. Nevertheless, things are orderly. The tarpaulins that divide the living quarters of different families are neatly fixed. The clothesline is full, but very organized. Not a single piece rubbish can be found on the unpaved floor. Saeed Haji, 46, one of the leaders of those living in this building welcomed me in. 

“Our houses were bombed and all our things were either stolen or burned. We have only the clothes we were wearing when we arrived in Duhok,” Saeed.

Saeed is a father of 12. He deplored the horrors of violence he and others witnessed in Sinjar as militants closed in. “Our houses were bombed and all our things were either stolen or burned. We have only the clothes we were wearing when we arrived in Duhok,” he shares. Saeed expressed his gratitude to organizations, like World Vision, who have come to help. 

On the day I visited the three-storey building divided into 28 living quarters with shared kitchens, toilets and bathrooms, World Vision was distributing hygiene and baby kits to families while another local NGO provided medical check-ups for all of the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) living in the building. While the building has electricity for lighting and winter heaters, it goes off from time to time. Water is limited and families have to conserve to ensure there will be enough for cooking and washing. The building appears to have been constructed originally to be used as offices or shops. Today, it is home to more than 170 displaced people. 

All of the residents of the building are among the Yazidi minority, while some are related to each other, many simply knew each other as they were all displaced from Sinjar. 

“When we started to settle here, we elected our own leaders to put order in the place,” explains Saeed, one of the elected leaders. 

Although their living conditions are informal, their organization and structure is not. “When we started to settle here, we elected our own leaders to put order in the place,” explains Saeed, one of the elected leaders. 

The first living quarters I entered was “home” to Naseema Edo, 30. She is sharing the cramped 2-meter by 2-meter space with her husband and brother. In the corner, blankets, kitchen utensils, clothes and whatever meagre possessions they have are neatly arranged. 

Her husband, a farmer in Sinjar, is out of work. They have to depend on relief assistance for their daily survival. “That is why it is important for us to help each other and share what we have with one another,” she said. “When one family is out of fuel for cooking, another one shares. When someone is sick, we pool our resources for the medicine or hospitalization. We share everything,” she emphasized. Not long after she said this, a friend came into the space and the two started preparing lunch together, lining up the pots and vegetables, much like I imagine they would have done back in their home. 

As Naseema was distracted by her cooking, we moved to another nearby living quarter, the “home” of Leyla Sulaiman, 49, a mother of two. Her space, away from a window, was a bit dark. But, it was as clean and organized as Naseema’s. She smiled timidly when her sons: Ibrahim Jasim, 29, and Jasim Jasim, 27, came in giving her the hygiene kits they had received from World Vision. She opened the kits immediately saying: “Thank you for these things. They are all very useful to us.”

Saeed said the cold season was proving to be a difficult time because in addition to dealing with issues of overcrowding and lack of resources, families and especially children, were facing freezing temperatures. 

“Our place is overcrowded but all of us do our best to keep it clean because we all live here... We also have to respect and honour the kindness of the owner of this building who allowed us to stay,” Saeed added.  

“Our place is overcrowded but all of us do our best to keep it clean because we all live here,” said Saeed. “We also have to respect and honour the kindness of the owner of this building who allowed us to stay,” he added. 

Saeed, a soft-spoken man spoke with wisdom and patience talked matter-of-factly about their situation and how they got here. There was sadness in his voice but a practicality in his words as he noted the need to move on with life.

Whatever the future holds, I know Saeed and his community will overcome. They have been through pain and they have proven they can handle it with dignity. It was truly a privilege for me to have been invited to visit with them, even for this short time. 

Over 1,600 families (or 12,000 people) were provided with hygiene and baby kits in Duhok and Sulaymaniyah IDP areas. The programme aims to augment the needs for hygiene and sanitation needs of the families.