The Collateral Repair Project
in affiliation with the International Humanities Center
It's that time of year again when children everywhere are
ending their last days of summer holidays and getting
ready to return to their classrooms.

Just like children everywhere, Iraqi children in Jordan are
preparing to begin a new school year and are feeling the
same mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation that
we can remember from our own childhoods at this time of
year.  The difference is that, for many of the refugee
children, this will be the first time that they will be able to
attend school in several years.












Because of the violence and risk of being kidnapped or
worse, attendance of schools in Iraq has dropped
tremendously. For families that have fled to the relative
safety of Jordan, the children of  those without the ability
to qualify for legal residency (the majority), were not
allowed to attend Jordan's schools.

This relatively small country with limited resources has not
been able to assimilate and provide well for this surge of
refugees which, by some accounts, is now 20% of it's total
population.  Now, because of an increase in funding
resources, this fall Iraqi children aged 14 and younger will
legally be able to attend school.  As you can imagine, these
children are looking forward to this new school year with
great excitement!

However, for displaced families that are struggling to
survive, coming up with funds to purchase the required
school uniforms and supplies is impossible.  We want to
help these children get off to the best start possible in this
school year that will be challenging enough for many of
them as they struggle to catch up on missed studies &
often suffering post traumatic distress disorder.

Will you help to provide basic items for a child so
they can be prepared for this exciting new school
year?
School Supplies Project in Amman    
Iraqi refugee children need your help
Abbas  - 15,  Sajjad  -  5,  Hissain  - 3,  Tebba  - 9,   Mohammed  - 14
Your gift of $65 will provide one child with:
  • school uniform
  • pair of shoes
  • 3 pairs of socks
  • book bag
  • school supplies
Farrah
Please help one or more child by making the gift
for the full amount for their school items -
or your smaller donation will be gratefully accepted and combined with the
contributions of others to fund a child
Istebreq
Ayah

Gallery: Children You've Already Assisted
Scroll down page to see gallery
of children you've already assisted
*this project is suspended until beginning of 2008 school year


Um Rami is married and her husband was with her in Amman.  He had a vegetable stand in the neighborhood outdoor marketplace to support his
family.  Unfortunately, this sort of visibility is risky - especially for undocumented male refugees and the reason why the majority of men stay
cloistered inside their homes or are careful about who they work for. This  makes those illegally employed vulnerable to exploitation of being paid
low wages and in horrid working conditions.  Any complaint to an employer could result in the employer turning him in to the residency police.  
Men who stay at home to avoid risk of deportation and/or because they cannot find even illegal work endure a  heightened sense of futility in
regard to being able to support their wives and families.  This also puts their wives and children in the position of having to be the ones who earn
their family's living because they are less likely to be targeted for deportation back into Iraq.  This puts them at the same risk of being exploited by
unscrupulous employers.


Um Rami's husband took the risk of caring for his family's needs and has paid the price of being Iraqi in a country overburdened by an increase
of between 15 - 20% of it's population with the exodus of Iraqis fleeing their lawless country. .  He was detained and deported back to Iraq.  His
wife and children now pay that price,  too.

Every one of the families we ask you to assist faces this or a similar risk.  These are not people who choose poverty with the expectation that
others will care for them.  Most were middle class, well educated professionals in Iraq prior to occupation - both men and women.  The violence
resulting from our illegal occupation of their country has forced them to leave what they had left after the economy of Iraq spiraled even further
downward than it had after 12 years of US imposed sanctions.  They arrive in Jordan or other neighboring countries with very little savings and,
when those are gone, little opportunity to support themselves and into a situation where attempts to be self-supporting can result on forced return
to Iraq - a death sentence for many.

Your contributions can literally mean the difference between life and death for these people who have already endured what most of us cannot
imagine.  Their children carry what we would consider nightmares as memories and, in addition to the mental trauma of living in war, they have
now experienced the  insecurity of leaving all they have known behind to live unwanted in host countries.  Thank you for contributing to stability of
these children and their parents.
These two photos are of Um Rami and two of
her 5 children that your donations purchased
school items for.  Um Rami's story explains why
it is critical that we fund micro-projects for
women to have home-based industry to support
their families.