Here in our Northern Iraq base, 20,000 Yezidis in our camp alone, (380,000 in the province of Duhok) are heading into their sixth winter in tents. Any hopes of return to their ancient lands in Sinjar were yet again dashed by the recent, and repetitive bombing by Turkey, of villages which had fought valiantly to come back to life. As houses were once again razed to the ground, including the former home of one of our rescued girls, some picked up their sparse belongings and returned for the second time, to Shariya Camp, with the knowledge that the camp, the tent is permanent, home was and will not be again.
Each season is merciless. The intense heat of the summer vies for position with the bitter cold of the winter. Concrete floors, thin mattresses, wobbly kerosene heaters and if lucky, a jerry can or two of smelly kerosene are part of the winter atmosphere. Every tent, every family tells the story of the moment the heater gets knocked over in the cramped living quarters and how they “just managed” to prevent a fire.
Last winter 20 tents burned to the ground in Shariya Camp. 20 people were badly burned suffering permanent injury.
In our pursuit of fire extinguishers for The Hope Centre inside the camp, we discovered a wonderful invention, the Fire Ball extinguisher, a ball with a foam casing wrapped in PVC also known as the Fire Bomb. According to www.fire-extinguisher101.com “An activation or trigger strip is embedded into the ball’s outer casing, when this activation or trigger is exposed to flames for more than a few seconds, the casing will burst open and disperse a cloud of chemical powder in the immediate vicinity. The dry chemical reacts quickly to effectively to suppress the flames in the immediate area. A fire extinguishing ball can usually put out flames in an area with a radius ranging between 4 and 5 metres. The device is non-toxic to humans and animals. A fire ball extinguisher is reliable, effective and provides worry free protection around the clock", John Manley
We have the wonderful Mr Kamal in Duhok who can supply each ball made for $25. The Hope Centre is home to 450 students, and an additional 100 men and women who come for medical checks. Total of 200 families represented. We would love to give each family 1 Fireball Extinguisher and to know that our level of care for each one has been taken up a notch. As previously mentioned, the entire region is bleeding with ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing. May additional precious lives not be lost inside a 4 metre by 4 metre tent. Let’s help protect the defenceless. We are so grateful for your support. Yes we are there on the frontlines in the active position, but we simply could not do anything without you. Thank you for your trust, thank you for your belief in the mission to which we are committed. Thank you.
