Sharing Humanity: Sahar’s story
Imagine leaving home not knowing where you will stay, when you will have your next meal, or even when you will return. Imagine the fear of not knowing how the people at your destination will treat you. Imagine that despite these uncertainties you must leave now in order to stay alive.
Sahar who now lives in the Anbar Governorate of south-central Iraq, shares her difficult story with Relief International (RI). Like many internally displaced persons (IDPs) around her, Sahar has led a difficult journey to reach where she is now. In early 2011, her husband was killed in accident, destroying her family and leaving her alone with her five young children.
“I was left with my five children, alone and frightened. I didn’t know what to do.”
Widows in Iraq are a particularly vulnerable group, susceptible to various social, ethical and structural problems. In 2015, Anbar witnessed multiple attacks from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Sahar is just one of the thousands of innocent families whose lives were destroyed that year.
“It is very difficult to describe it… everything around is exploding and everyone is screaming and running aimlessly.” Sahar opens up about the 2015 ISIS attacks.
Sahar, with her five children, was forced to leave her house and everything else behind in order to escape from ISIS control. Together they fled from Anbar, crossing over the Bzebiz Bridge towards the relative safety of Baghdad.
“It took two whole days to get to Baghdad. It was really hard. We suffered a lot without any food, water or mercy until we arrived at Al Yousifya in Baghdad,” Sahar speaks. She takes a deep breath before she continues.
“We now live in a very simple house. I live with my sick mother and my five children with no one to look after us.” Her oldest child, Reem Nasser, is 12 years old and her youngest daughter, Noor, is five.
IDPs face numerous challenges and obstacles along their journey to safety, some including poverty, inadequate housing, domestic violence, lack of opportunities for young people, and lack of attention from local and national authorities.
However, with the help of RI’s cash program in Anbar, Sahar was given assistance to pay the rent and buy her children clothes and other needs. To her, this simple ability to pay her debts and provide her family with new clothes and food meant so much. Sahar felt dignified and empowered when given the cash and ability to choose her own needs for her children.
“I prefer cash,” Sahar answered when asked about what kind of assistance worked best for her. She explained that most of the in-kind humanitarian aid she has received in the past did not match her needs. However, RI’s cash program gave Sahar the opportunity to use the money wisely according to her own personal needs, valuing and fulfilling her priorities herself.
