Making a House a (Safe) Home

CRP has known Thigeel , his wife, Kareema and their lovely children for a couple of years. When we are in Amman, we visit them every few months to bring the children gifts and provide assistance. as Thigeel suffers from chronic asma and lung infections and the cost of medications for him take a huge chunk out of their small UNHCR cash assistance grant.

I ran into Thigeel and his family the other night when I was walking in my neighborhood. I was surprised to see them here as they have been living in another area of Amman as long as we've known them, I asked what they were doing in Hashimi Shemali and they told us excitedly that they had just moved here - that there was too much crime in their old area and they were worried about their children. I promised we would visit them in their new home soon.

We visited on Wednesday and, after the customary kisses hello, Kareema said "We have known you since 2007 and you never forget us" - How can we, these kids are so lovely and even though they live in abject poverty, Thigeel and Kareema have always taken very good care of their kids. They proudly told us the children are all in the tops of their classes in school.

I was nearly brought to tears when Kareema asked me, "This is a much more beautiful home, isn't it?" because, it is true - this new flat, despite being incredibly run down and with plaster crumbling off its moldy walls, IS a huge improvement over their previous homes. You or I would cry if we had to move our family into this new flat and this family was proud of and so very pleased with it!

We decided to give this family a home-warming gift that will make their new place more livable and, most importantly, help with Thigeel's lung problems.

We called Ali (who was a painter by trade before he had to flee Iraq and who is CRP's unofficial handyman) and asked him to meet us there to give us an estimate to repair and paint the entire interior with mold-resistant paint! I asked Kareema what color of paint she would like and she immediately responded "White. Clean white"

We also found out that they are drinking tap water - very unsafe in Amman - and that the youngest had gotten sick from it many times. Buying small-size plastic bottles of water from the market is expensive, especially with a family of this size. We ordered 2 large bottles of water from the distributor CRP gets it's drinking water from (at only $1.40 per bottle) and made arrangements for the distributor to bring the family water when they need it.

Their new home is bare and we will also provide donated mattresses from our distribution room.

Success in Seattle

THANK YOU SEATTLE

We are thrilled to report that Seattle area donors generously contributed almost $4,000 to Collateral Repair Project.  Our heartfelt thanks go to the people in the Seattle area for their kindness. These funds were raised on June 2^nd at a musical fundraiser and auction was held at St. Patrick’s Church in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle.

People came from all over the region and for an enjoyable evening of song, music and fabulous desserts. Folk-singers, Jim Paige and Mark Taylor-Canfield as well as rousing singing of the Seattle Labor Chorus provided the entertainment. Our thanks go to the many talented individuals and local bakeries who provided their luscious treats for the dessert auction.  We’d also like to thank individuals and local businesses who donated items and services to the silent auction   Of special interest were the quilts featuring pictures drawn by Iraqi children in Amman. They were beautifully made by quilters in Vancouver, WA who generously gave of their time and effort. Mary Madsen, co-director of CRP,  spoke about current projects and her recent experiences in Amman.

Funds from this event have enabled Collateral Repair Project to provide several families in need with meat and chicken, back rent for a family facing eviction, emergency room expenses and medication for a man with no money who had a medical emergency, purchase of a sewing machine for a micro-project, diapers and newborn kits for three families with newborns, purchase and for delivery of two used, good condition refrigerators, give cash assistance to families we visited who had no have no income and began monthly cash assistance to a man who has no cash assistance from UNHCR and no other means of self support.

Karen Jones, our NW Regional Volunteer Liasion and a team of just 4 people put together this event—Jean Darsie, Cobra, Ruth Williams. On site, Fred Miller of Peace Action, Rosemary Lavisor, Sonjia Tilton and Martina Boyd were invaluable in setting up for the event. Bob Morgan of Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation did an amazing job on the sound. “We enjoyed doing this event so much and are so happy that it was successful beyond our expectations,” said Karen.  “If anyone reading this is interested in having an event or house-party for CRP, I’d be happy to speak with you and share some ideas.”  To learn more about this event, auction items, co-sponsors etc, check-out http://crpseattle.pbworks.com/.  To contact Karen about having an event or house-party, email peacework42@gmail.com

CRP sends our heartfelt thanks to all who made it possible to provide much needed assistance to so many Iraqi refugees.