Friends In Iraq

I had coffee with a dude from the American Friends Service Committee (a Quaker organization) this morning, chatting about the work they're doing in Iraq and all over the world, and where exactly my money goes. A lot of what they do has is related to clean water issues and helping vulnerable populations, to wit:

LIFE - Repair of Bodeja Water Treatment Facility: AFSC has entered into an agreement with Life for Relief and Development to provide funds for the repair of the Bodeja Water Treatment Facility. (Total projected budget $1,300 USD from discretionary funds.)
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These repairs will bring the facility back up to capacity. Its operation provides clean, potable water to approximately 3,000 people in Bodeja village and the surrounding vicinity.

CARE - Abosoda Village water project: AFSC has agreed to fund a water treatment project in Abosoda Village on the Euphrates River. The project will be implemented by CARE's Baghdad office. (Total projected budget: U.S.$68,300)

Abosoda is located in the district of Ramadi, in the Governorate of Anbar about 70 miles west of Baghdad. There are approximately 300 households, or 3,000 people, in this poor, rural, agricultural community. There is no water treatment plant serving this area...

CARE - Deaf Education project: AFSC has agreed to provide a U.S. $10,000 grant to CARE's Deaf Education Program.
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The primary population to benefit will be the staff of Iraq's twenty-two deaf schools. Eventually, the main beneficiaries will be the deaf children who will benefit from the enhanced teaching skills of their teachers. This ongoing project will have long-term effects on the deaf school education in Iraq and allow deaf children to have the same opportunities as hearing children.

Bethany House for Handicapped Women in Baghdad: Bethany House is a private residential program in Baghdad for Muslim and Christian women with disabilities...

Good Shepherd Home for Women in Mosul: This is a private program established in 1997. It is an ecumenical Christian facility located at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Mosul and run by two Sisters of the Sacred Heart and several lay women. Presently, there are sixteen girls and young women from 14 to 22 years of age. The home provides shelter for girls from troubled or abusive homes or homes where the mother has died. In addition to a safe and loving environment, it provides educational opportunities, vocational training. and counseling...

If you'd like to do something that can make life a little better for the Iraqis, please consider donating to the AFSC and help them continue their good works.

ntodd  ¶ 2:15 PM