After our fundraising event in Newcastle during Refugee Week in June we will be remitting funds to support projects run by NGO “The Lotus Flower”.
The Lotus Flower run womens centres with their programmes based on the six pillars chosen in accordance with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Further information about their projects can be found on their webpage: http://www.thelotusflower.org
Our raised funds will be allocated to help some of their projects which include:
- Textbooks and stationary for literacy and english classes;
- Salaries for the Sewing Sisters Trainers (internally displaced women and refugees living in the camps) ;
- English and Literacy Courses;
- Girls Hygiene Education Program reaching girls aged 12 – 16;
- Hiring a full time Social Worker;
- Hiring a part time Psychologist;
- 25 laptops for Computer Training Courses;
- Kick boxing/CBT/meditation classes, music, first aid, beauty and yoga classes;
- 100 sewing machines;
- First aid courses, awareness session;
- Sewing sisters program;
- Building a new Centre.
Erica is currently scoping a project to provide goats to internally displaced families living in the mountains in the Duhok province. These 90+ Ezidi families do not live in a camp so do not have any support for food, employment, clothes, education, housing etc – they are the poorest of the poor. A herd of goats would straight away provide milk, cheese, meat, spinning the fleece into warm clothes and the means to sell goats through breeding. Watch this space for updates.
Shipping Container Update:
The shipping container arrived at its destination in Bajed Kandala 2 camp in February.
The donated medical and hospital equipment (worth approximately $A500,000) is being delivered to hospitals and medical clinics in Kurdistan, Sinjar and Syria.
The clothes, blankets, educational resources, school clothes, shoes have been distributed among the 5,500 Ezidi people at Bajed Kandala 2 camp. Sewing machines, an overlocker and boxes of fabric have being gifted to the sewing group in Bajed Kandala 2 camp.
The 2,200 women’s hygiene kits were gifted to NGO “The Lotus Flower” who are employing a local woman to Coordinate the Womens Health Workshops. There will be something like 75 workshops run by a team of trained and paid women from three camps in the Duhok province. Women from the Sewing groups in these 3 camps will be paid to make hand sewn hygiene kits to ensure the long term future of this project.
Operation Hope funded the extra fees for demurrage, customs and storage fees to enable the shipping container to reach its final destination.
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Urgent Project / Special Appeal – January 2019 – FULLY FUNDED
I have received an urgent request from Dr Hussein from the Sinjar hospital for a oxygen concentrator for the hospital and a mobile oxygen concentrator for the ambulance. The hospital was targeted in air strikes in 2014 and 90% of the building was destroyed and has not been rebuilt.
Dr Hussein now works in a small 4 bed emergency department in what was formerly the primary care clinic in Sinjar. There are a further 6 beds for critical patients. There is currently NO oxygen available in this facility or in the ambulance. A mother died in childbirth in this facility last year and premature babies have died on the 6 hour trip by ambulance to Mosul. Providing these 2 medical devices will ensure that lives are saved both in the hospital and during transport in the ambulance.
We have made the decision to purchase these two items so that Kim and I can transport them in our baggage to Kurdistan, Iraq in a few weeks time and they will be in use before the end of February.
A special appeal has been launched to raise the $A4,100 required to make the purchase.
Donations can be accepted by:
- Deposit to Bank Account at any Australian Bank of online Banking to the account: Operation Hope Australia Ltd BSB: 034087 Account Number: 045791
- Donate online using paypal (there will be a fee that will come out of your donation) or credit card by using the DONATE button on our webpage: operationhopeaustralia.com
- By Cheque made out in favour of Operation Hope Australia Ltd and mailed to:
47 Coal Point Road, Coal Point NSW 2283
Receipts can be issued …… please let us know your email or postal address.