Our Stories

FIELD UPDATE Being closely integrated with our village and tent community, we have worked closely with the local orphanage for a few years now and have become a second family to them, as strong and trusting relationships were forged with the orphanage staff, who allowed their precious children to come to the stables on a weekly basis. One of their Yezidi boys, Bewar, now 13 years old, carried much sadness, along with confusion and anger. I remember how, rain or shine, he wore

FIELD UPDATE Every step of our journey over the years here has been about inheritance. Our first property was in Waar City, a kindergarten abandoned by an international NGO. It was our first portion of land, our first inheritance. Once we discovered our inheritance - one of the expensive, well-illustrated books for four-year-olds teaching them how to slay infidels (such as ourselves) - we welcomed the assignment of establishing a kindergarten for Arabs who had fled from Mosul

FIELD UPDATE My plan was to write about our participation in the annual village festival, which is an event we look forward to each year, and maybe next week I will. I was on a Zoom call yesterday where the host briefly recounted some twenty years of his organisation’s history. That got me thinking about our twelve-year journey here in Mesopotamia. A book could be made of the stories that have been told and those that sit deep in our hearts that we have not shared. The comman

FIELD UPDATE There is one combine harvester for the Shariya Complex. When it’s harvest time, it rolls in with a quiet dignity of mission. There is a silent anticipation in the village. There are no grand announcements that it’s harvest week, but somehow tears always well up in my eyes when I see it enter the first field. Harvest is coming, and with that harvest comes responsibility. Our stables are situated in the old village of Shariya, a village which remains home to broken

FIELD UPDATE When I look at these men, the real Shingali dudes, my mind goes to one verse from Lamentations which is sung in the Shabbat service. "Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old." These are the men who walked for days in the scorching heat to flee Shingal and arrive in safety to Shariya. These are the men whose lives were fields of wheat and barley. These are the men who had orchards and vines. These are the men who had small shops

FIELD UPDATE Hello dear friends, this is Nurse Fawzi speaking to you this week. Mrs. Avya and I go deep into the heart of the camp at least once a week; Sunday being our first visit of the week. Yes, we go to visit patients who are unable to walk to the Hope Clinic. There is quite a distance between sections A and E, for example, but we also go to watch, to see what is happening in the camp, to listen to the voices, and find people who, despite the passing of almost twelve ye

Dear friends, Lisa is traveling through the region this week, so we won't have a full field update for you today. But we didn't want the week to pass without saying this simply: thank you. Every donation that comes through keeps us here. It pays for the teachers, the horses, the sewing machines, the open gates. It means we don't have to leave. And in a place where so many have been abandoned, staying is everything. If you've been thinking about giving, today is as good a day

FIELD UPDATE We have a very precious group of young children. Those who find school hard. Those who just don't fit in. Those who struggle with learning and lag behind. Those who are losing hope at the beginning of their educational journey. Those who need a quiet space, a gentle word, a hug when they struggle, and the sound of hands clapping when they break through. They are not special needs; they just need a little more attention than others, and a little more encouragement

FIELD UPDATE It’s our pleasure to introduce the next generation of Prof. Saeed’s family. Rozha has volunteered with us for most of our years and is now on our teaching staff. Saeed has always been “tough and straight” with regard to her. “She gets no leniency, she is as everyone else, no favours and no discounts. In the world of education and employment, she stands alone; she is not my daughter.” And thus it has been. The famous apple has not fallen far from the tree; she is

FIELD UPDATE Hello dear friends, I am Salam, the Director of the Springs of Hope Art Academy. I have been with Springs of Hope since the start of our journey here and have taught over 1,200 students. I found myself touching up our logo on our blue entrance gates this week. Our logo carries our identity as we serve our communities, both in the camp and those who come from the village. As I was painting, several of the tent dwellers approached me and began to chat, asking as ma

FIELD UPDATE We have a Sarah (Hebrew means Mother of Nations). She is the Hope Medical Clinic’s oldest patient, being 106. Her life is somewhat parallel to that of the biblical Sarah, inasmuch as her years on this earth have been somewhat barren, with pain written across her story. She is but one of the many patients we visit weekly or more in the camp. As our team goes in every weather condition, the relentless rain and hail of this past month, and the scorching heat that wi

FIELD UPDATE “Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens.” – C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Kristina is unforgettable. She came to us at 12 years old after five long years in the captivity of ISIS in Syria. Whilst alone, separated from her family, she dreamed dreams. She dreamed of a lion, a lion that came to her in many a dark night and told her that the day would co