Amid the devastating trauma of the Mosul region, 50 people whose employement had been destroyed by ISIS have found work and hope with the help of the charity Open Doors.
When ISIS took over Mosul 2014 many in the region were no longer able to work. With the help of Open Doors, 50 workers have now found employment in a stone factory 25 miles from Mosul. Stone-cutting is a common profession in the area, where many families in surrounding villages have been skilled stone cutters for generations.
Nashwan, one of the new employees, said: 'I had worked for 20 years in stone cutting, and suddenly I was unemployed. I had no means of caring for my wife and three children; they are depending on my income. We worried about our future in this country, especially as we saw so many other families migrate.
'Without this project I would still be unemployed at home. But now it is better. I can take care of my family again. We hope for better times. We thank the church for supporting us.'
The project was begun by the Mar Matti monastery, working with a local Open Doors partner and the local community. Open Doors gave a grant to provide equipment and get the factory started.
Father Yosef is overseeing the initiative on behalf of the monastery. He said: 'Most products are sold in Baghdad. There are no mountains there, so they have to buy their stone products here in the north. All these workers are now able to support their families. We hope this will give them a reason to stay in this country.'
He continues, 'Most organisations just distribute food and give people some money. They eat it, they spend it and it's gone. This project offers long-term hope since it guarantees people's salary for the future. And it has become self-sufficient, no new grants are needed to support this factory.'
Open Doors has been working in Iraq for over 20 years to support and equip local churches with training, crisis relief, community development projects, and distributing Bibles and Christian literature. The charity has launched the Hope for the Middle East campaign, a seven-year initiative aimed at mobilising Christians across the world to stand with the Middle Eastern Church. As part of this, it is inviting people to sign the One Million Voices of Hope petition, which 'calls for equality, dignity and responsibility for Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq, the key things Christians and church leaders from these nations have said they want for the future'. The petition will be presented to the UN in December 2017.
Last week US-backed Iraqi forces began an offensive to recapture Mosul from ISIS occupation. The attack puts ISIS forces as well as 650,000 civilians under siege. Mosul's airport was recaptured on Thursday and today Iraqi forces push deeper into Mosul's western regions, where about 750,000 people are believed to be trapped. The successful liberation of Mosul would effectively end the jihadists' plans for territorial rule in Iraq.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
