News ira Feb 25, 2003 www.aljazeerah.info

Al-Jazeerah, News

Iraq’s poverty inspires fundraising effort
Trio of Women collecting funds, clothes

Recent visit inspired campaign to help alleviate suffering in stricken nation

Hala Kilani
Daily Star staff, 2/25/03

The threat of military action against Iraq has increased humanitarian concerns for the Iraqi people, suffering under poverty and miserable conditions after more than 12 years of international sanctions.
In addition to solidarity groups from all over the world flowing into Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, three young women here are collecting money and clothes for the children of Iraq.
Yasmine Maktabi, 27, and her cousins Maysa and Abir Fuladkar, 28 and 26 respectively, came up with the idea of raising funds for the children of Iraq after visiting Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala and discovering a remarkable level of poverty.
“I’ve been to remote places in Iran and Morocco before where I’ve seen poor people, but I’ve never encountered as much poverty and misery as in Karbala and Najaf,” Maktabi told The Daily Star in an interview, days after returning from a nine-day trip with her cousins to pilgrimage sites in Iraq.
“But what triggered the idea to raise funds was not so much the poverty,” Maktabi said. “It was seeing how much of a difference a little money can make in people’s lives there.”
She explained that she met a woman in Karbala, Oum Ali, who is considered well off compared to others. Maktabi gave her $50 after the Iraqi woman cooked a meal for her and her cousins.
“Oum Ali took the $50 and thanked me, saying ‘now I can build a roof on my house,’” Maktabi said. “I realized what a difference $50 can make there it can build a roof! Then it occurred to me that if someone who’s considered well off doesn’t have a roof, what are the other people’s lives like?”
In another encounter, Maktabi gave an extra $10 to a shroud salesman to perform a religious ritual on the merchandise she had bought from him. He then broke into tears.
“It broke my heart to see him crying,” she said. “He appreciated it so much. To him, I had given him so much money, and during my whole stay there he volunteered to help me with anything I wanted.”
She also noticed that there was an extraordinary number of child beggars, who kept asking: “Did you bring us clothes?”
These experiences led Maktabi and her cousins to start fund-raising and collecting clothes to contribute to a population that may soon be faced with more suffering.
As soon as she returned, Maktabi, who is a graphic designer, created a logo to be used on boxes she will place anywhere she can to collect money. She has already contacted locations considered popular with the public. Several managers of schools and businesses, such as Lifestyles health club, International College, and the Artisanat du Liban de l’Orient have agreed to host the violet fund-raising box.
Money and clothes will go to poor families, and many of the children working and begging in the streets of Iraq the inspiration for the project.
“While designing my logo, I immediately imagined it to be in pastel colors to compensate for the childhood that the Iraqi children are definitely lacking,” she said. “All the children there lack this innocent look or behavior that we always find in our children. It is as if it had been confiscated from them since birth for the simple reason that they are Iraqis and not other, more fortunate children.”
She said that she saw four- and five-year-old children bearing adult responsibilities.
“I saw them working in shops, carrying stuff or serving tea, and they were overwhelmed with worries,” she said.
At first, she and her cousins thought of starting their own association, but they soon realized that it was a lengthy and costly operation. So they decided to work as representatives of Al-Ataa (giving), an organization that is doing its own volunteer work for Iraq.
Those who contribute at least LL10,000 can receive coasters designed by Maktabi as tokens of appreciation.

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