The Bielefeld Initiative for Peace and Hope in Kurdistan e.V. (IFHK) has been organizing humanitarian projects in Kurdistan since 2016 to support people, regardless of their cultural and religious identity, in shaping their own lives. The focus is on children and families who particularly suffer from the consequences of war and violence. Most recently, a playground project for children in Shengal was launched.

Emine Gözen, chairwoman of the Initiative for Peace and Hope in Kurdistan e.V., spoke to Yeni Özgür Politika about the project. The first playground, Baxçê Axîn, was opened in May of this year. The playground is named after Axîn, a child who was murdered in 2022 at the age of six.

The idea for the playground project came up during a visit to Shengal in 2022, said Emine Gözen, adding: "The Shengal region is located in the north of Iraq and is predominantly inhabited by Yazidis. In 2014, Shengal was attacked by the Islamic State that committed genocide and femicide against the Yazidis. The consequences are still having a serious impact today."

Gözen continued: "We started thinking about how we could make the children visible. At that time, there was a plastic playground in Xanesor. It was the only playground in the area, and families traveled long distances to bring their children there. It was a tragic situation. From this situation, we began to lay the foundation for our playground project, with the idea of ​​making the children of this small neighborhood visible. We were told that the children could no longer sit still when they heard about the project.”

The initiative wants to build ten playgrounds, one of them in the center of Shengal. "When the children heard that an organization had come to Shengal to build a playground, they said: We want a playground too!" said Emine Gözen, adding: "That's why we will open our second playground in the center of Shengal and the third in a village suggested to us by Yazidi women. Interestingly, the place suggested by the Yazidi women is an Arab-Muslim village: 'Why this village? It is Arab and Muslim,' I asked, and I was touched by a mother's answer: 'Well, how can we promote peace with hostility?'”

Gözen said: “The opening of the playground in the Boruk municipality in May this year was received with great enthusiasm. The children were very excited. The Boruk municipality has taken responsibility for the first playground. It took about a year before the playground could be opened. But there is still a lot to do. We will remedy the shortcomings by working together with our friends in the region. At the same time, we will set up canteens in the playgrounds to feed the children. This way we will also create jobs.

Our work also has a positive impact on collective trauma. Collective trauma is permanent and is passed on from generation to generation. The aim of the playgrounds is also to alleviate the trauma of children to some extent by allowing them to play carefree and be children. It is a small step, but it must be taken. In this way, we are trying to expand society's tolerance limits.”

Gözen added: “Our first playground cost around 18,000 euros. The costs were covered by donations from private individuals and from institutions and foundations with which we work in Germany. The Werdehausen Foundation in Germany is also one of our supporters. This support is a beautiful sign of international friendship.

At the same time, we work with groups that see themselves as democrats, revolutionaries and intellectuals and are committed to the common good. In addition to building the playgrounds, our other goal is to make the suffering in Shengal tangible here and to ensure international solidarity.

We emphasize that the great solidarity also helps to ensure that the playgrounds can be built more quickly. After the construction of the first playground, the neighboring communities were enthusiastic and became active. The communities of Xanesor and Shengal in particular contributed a lot to the construction of the playground. The communities supported the project with all their means. We would like to thank them again for this. The result so far has given us an indescribable feeling of happiness, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us."

All can contribute to the building of playgrounds in Shengal

Emine Gözen hopes for further donations for the project and said: "Every support makes a child happy and visible."

The Initiative for Peace and Hope in Kurdistan e.V. is a non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. Anyone who would also like to actively participate in reconstruction processes in Kurdistan can contact the association.

Initiative für Frieden und Hoffnung in Kurdistan e.V.
Sparkasse Bielefeld
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E-Mail: [email protected]

Web: www.initiative-kurdistan.org

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Tel: 015775399487