‘Not just Syria’: Canadian funds support church sheltering Iraqi Christians attacked by ISIS

[A girl sitting on the grounds of the Mar Elia Catholic Church in Erbil, Iraq./PHOTO: Amber Nasrulla]

The kindergarten classroom at Mar Elia Catholic Church in Erbil, capital of the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI), could have sprung from the pages of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Interior walls are decorated with images of large, colourful fruit, block letters and bright-eyed animals.

Father Daniel Alkhovy, who manages the education and extracurricular activities at a camp for 670 displaced people right on church property that operates with Canadian funds, gestured to Aramaic letters on a whiteboard.

“The children have been practising the alphabet, which we teach because it’s the language of Jesus,” he said.

“Our language is our identity. If we lose this we lose everything. Yes, we have already lost so much. But we have also built.”

Mar Elia church became a refuge to Assyrian Christians in August 2014 after fanatical ISIS fighters swooped into Mosul, 80 kilometres south, demolishing everything in their path.

They went on to attack and seize control of nearby Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest Christian city. They gave the 50,000 residents there a choice: convert to Islam or die by the sword. The citizens didn’t have the luxury of time and almost the entire town fled, with not much more than what they were wearing, according to a report by the non-profit Rise Foundation.

In the last two years ISIS has attacked towns and villages and destroyed and killed indiscriminately. More than 1.5 million Iraqis — Christians, Yezidis, Sunnis and Arabs — who have been internally displaced have sought shelter in KRI. There are also 1.8 million Syrian refugees in KRI. Though exact numbers are hard to come by, thousands of Christians came north to Erbil as well as to other cities. In KRI, peshmerga fighters fiercely defend Kurdish territory and battle to retake towns and villages previously captured by ISIS.

“The borders keep shifting. And people are on the move,” said Aaron Moore, programs manager at World Vision International during an interview in his Erbil office. “ISIS has had catastrophic consequences on the residents of Iraq. Not just Syria.”

Since the ISIS attacks, Mar Elia church has been in a state of continuous evolution. And Canada has been a major supporter, according to Alkhovy; World Vision Canada used a grant of US$150,000 from Global Affairs Canada and transformed a church garden into a large playground with a multi-purpose play area. On March 6, teenagers played a lively game of volleyball, while elementary age children lolled on a large swing set.

In May 2015, then-prime minister Stephen Harper visited Mar Elia church where he saw how Canadian funds provided crucial sanitation facilities: six toilets and six showers, as well as three elevated water tanks. The funding also covered children’s toys, instruments, such as violins for music lessons, and books for the library.

[Then-prime minister Stephen Harper visits the Mar Elia church in May 2015/@StephenHarper]

The developments aren’t a permanent solution and Assyrian Christians can’t stay at the church forever but, “We’ve done our best to give the residents back some of their dignity,” said Alkhovy.

‘A five-star camp’

As of Feb. 4, approximately 360,522 internally displaced people (IDP) in Erbil are living in unfinished buildings, NGO-run camps, as well as informal settlements, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration: Iraq Mission.

When Assyrian Christians arrived en masse in the summer of 2014, Erbil residents did what they could. Locals donated mattresses and sheets and food, said Azad Yousif, a hotel owner in Erbil, but the influx of the internally displaced was large and sudden.

“There was great suffering. So many children. Hundreds of them slept outside in the open air,” said Yousif, who financially supports Mar Elia church. “It was boiling hot. It was very bad.

"People in Iraq generally don’t care if you are Muslim or Christian or Kurdish or Arab. We are helpful regardless,” Yousif said. “It was not easy when hundreds of thousands came into the city. And it was not easy for the police or the church or the hospitals, but thanks to God that Jesus helped everybody."

Mar Elia now? “It’s a five-star camp,” said Yousif, in comparison to IDP and refugee camps around Erbil.

[Father Daniel Alkhovy at the Mar Elia Catholic Church in Erbil, Iraq/PHOTO: Amber Nasrulla]

Mar Elia church has been in a state of continuous evolution to accommodate the IDPs. It got off to a rocky start.

Initially IDPs lived out in the open until a non-governmental organization (NGO) supplied tents; several months later, an NGO provided shipping containers that are used as living quarters, which is where the camp’s residents reside today. On the church grounds there’s a narrow, noisy warren of trailers sitting side-by-side. In tight laneways you’ll find ovens, washing machines, shelves stacked with dishware and, above, laundry lines. Inside trailers, there is room for a bed or bunk bed, a shelf and not much else. There are no fans and the containers become roasting ovens in summer.

Local volunteers have trained some of Mar Elia’s residents who, in turn, teach English, math and French to children between five and 16 — the kids number about 200. They also have drama and music as well as computer and karate. One trailer serves as a library and is open every evening.

There are entrepreneurial programs for the middle-aged moms of Mar Elia, said Alkhovy, as women who were accustomed to running busy households in Qaraqosh and Mosul have more time on their hands at the church.

Last December marked the opening of an on-site baked goods shop. There are restaurant quality ovens, deep freezers and fridges, funded by the International Organization for Migration. There’s also a hair salon trailer and one dedicated for seamstresses who custom stitch everything from sports coats to children’s pajamas.

During a recent visit, there were no customers in the bakery but head bakers, Antsar Saleem, Khalida Farid and Zida Han swiftly brought out samples — flaky Iraqi sweets filled with crushed nuts, dates and honey. The trio is best known for their kibbeh, which they make from scratch. That pastry — filled with ground beef and toasted pinenuts — is a bestseller and sells for 12,000 Iraqi dinars per kilo (approximately $10).

"At home I only cooked for my family,” said Saleem, who has three children. “In my heart I feel proud to be working and making something the community likes."

Asked to name the best baker, the women laughed in unison. They pointed to each other. Modesty it seems is a strong suit.

But they work in bittersweet conditions. Han noted that their initial enthusiasm has dampened. People like their food but aren’t shopping as frequently. Iraq is an oil-based economy and since crude prices dropped to $30 a barrel from $100, a majority of government workers, including hospital workers and peshmerga fighters, have not received wages since September 2015, according to the U.S. representative for the Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq in Washington, D.C.

Plummeting oil prices and the ISIS crisis are hurting everyone, including the people who run this tiny bakery. With less money it’s a challenge for them to buy flour and sugar and other items they need to bake.

“We are happy we have something to keep busy. And to spend time with our children,” said Farid, a mother of four. “But all we want is to go home. We don’t know what we will find but…we want to go back.”

Amber Nasrulla spent 12 days in the Middle East as part of a trip hosted by World Vision Canada (WVC), timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Syrian war. WVC staff did not review any part of the story.