Relief

Humanitarian relief is often necessary to establish the conditions for reconciliation. Conflict causes destruction and poverty, and diminishes the ability of communities to care for themselves. The resultant hardship can, in turn, breed resentment and lead to incitement to religious hatred.

Our relief work aims to break this cycle of hate begetting hate.  Our network of staff on the ground and our involvement in the community in Baghdad through St George's Church allows us to target our aid accurately to those in greatest need.

Running the church involves far more than just meeting people's spiritual needs.  The food relief programmes, the clinic and pharmacy, the bookshop and all the other facilities offered to the community now cost at least $72,000 per month to deliver.  And that’s on the months when we don’t get bombed.

If you would like to save a life or make a life more tolerable in this land that is close to being a war-zone, visit our donations page and learn more about how you could help.

Summary of Relief Work

St George's Church

St George's Church is overseen by Canon Andrew White and Deacon Faiz.  Its vibrant congregation is situated on Haifa Street in the Red Zone of Baghdad.  The security situation in Iraq continues to affect church life and several armed guards keep watch over the building, safeguarding church members during services.   A bus collects most members and brings them to the church, hoping to avoid kidnap.  However, in spite of preventative efforts, the reality of violence remains.

One Sunday, a would-be suicide bomber managed to get into the church building but, mercifully, they were removed by security before they could detonate their explosives.  More recently a bomb exploded outside the church, shattering church windows and injuring many of the congregation.

In spite of the risks, the three church services each week are all full to overflowing.  Most of the congregation is made up of women and children, their husbands and fathers having been killed or forced to flee.  The children attend the lively outdoor Sunday school and the church continues to grow.

St George's Clinic

St George's Church has used a building dedicated on its compound to create a Dental and Medical Clinic.  Many in the congregation suffer from poor health due to harsh local conditions, as do those in the surrounding community.  The team of nineteen staff includes four doctors and three dentists, as well as nurses, pharmacists, a lab technician and armed security guards.

Up to one hundred patients receive free medical treatment every day.  The clinic enables people to see the doctor, a dentist, have lab tests and collect prescription medicine, all at one place on the same day.

Our hope is that the clinic will model good practice, both in terms of excellence in medical practice, and also by demonstrating religious reconciliation at a grassroots level.  Medical staff come from Christian, Sunni, Shia and Jewish backgrounds (one of the dentists is one of only nine surviving Jews left in Baghdad), yet they work together, side by side, to provide much needed medical care to their neighbours, regardless of sectarian beliefs.  In the fractured and violent communities of Baghdad, this is extraordinary.

Food Distribution

As well as delivering medical aid through the clinic, the church also delivers much needed food supplies to over 550 families every week.  These vital supplies also get delivered locally to the "Mother Theresa" children's home and to institutions for the elderly.