Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

By Mika Thuening

Thirteen-year old Hassan Khalid was suffering from fever, headaches, and vomiting. He had drunk water from a tap and contracted typhoid. Unfortunately, Hassan is not alone in falling victim to the unsafe water of Iraq. In 2007, the World Health Organization confirmed over 3,300 cases of cholera, a disease that spreads through contaminated water, resulting in at least 14 deaths.[1] The number one killer of children under 5 years of age is water borne diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, and hepatitis.[2] Although these diseases are preventable by treating water for human consumption, millions of Iraqis remain at risk due to the lack of access.  According to the Red Cross, 40% of Iraqis lack access to clean water.[3]

Currently, almost half of households in Iraq are not connected to the general water network.[4] To get their water, families often must resort to unsafe or unsustainable water sources for their everyday needs. For example, the Tigris River, which flows through the center of Iraq’s capital city Baghdad, provides most citizens’ their drinking water. However, raw sewage pours from large pipes directly into the Tigris River, which then ends up in the capital’s drinking water.

Still, connection to the general water network does not guarantee clean water. About 36% of drinking water in Baghdad is unsafe in a good month, and 90% is unsafe in a bad month.

Some affluent families can afford to buy bottled drinking water, while many Iraqis have found themselves spending a third or more of their income purchasing clean water for their families. For the poor families who cannot afford to buy any clean water, the only option is to risk their health by drinking water that smells of human waste and carries multiple diseases.

Why is water in Iraq so bad? Iraq’s waste-treatment systems – similar to what we have in the U.S. – are obsolete, and as mentioned, sewage is poured into the country’s main sources of water. In addition, Iraq’s upstream neighbors Syria, Turkey, and Iran have all built dams reducing the flow of clean water into Iraq. The water supply and sanitation sector has experienced steady, devastating decline.

The country’s water infrastructure (treatment plants, pipes, etc.) is in disrepair due to many factors: neglect under Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and 1990s, the 1991 U.S.-led bombing to drive Iraq out of Kuwait which hit Iraq’s infrastructure, international sanctions throughout the 1990s, and finally the strife we have seen following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that led to sectarian fighting. Since 2003, insurgents have targeted the country’s water system and killed hundreds of Baghdad’s engineers and thousands of Iraq’s doctors and nurses.[5]

Seven years after the start of the war, water issues continue to jeopardize the health of Iraqi people. According to a USAID situation report dated May 5, 2010, “significant water shortages due to drought and damaged or insufficient water infrastructure continue to hinder access to safe drinking water or sanitation facilities in Iraq.”

While the Iraqi government, Iraqi non-governmental organizations, and international actors have made progress on restoring Iraq’s water systems, unclean and unsafe water is likely to remain a significant health risk to Iraqis and a violation of their basic human rights for years.

Water for Peace project

In response to these concerns, American citizens have taken a stand for the health and wellbeing of the Iraqi people. Hundreds of American students, families, and community organizations have brought clean water to thousands of Iraqis through the Water for Peace program.

Water for Peace is a joint project of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) and the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) that upholds and increases Iraqis’ human right to water by installing water sanitation systems at schools without access to clean water. Rather than requiring Iraqi schools to pay for sanitation systems they cannot afford, MPT and IARP find civil society organizations, school groups, and individuals in the U.S. to sponsor the sanitation systems.

In addition to providing clean water for Iraqis, Water for Peace builds people-to-people connections between Iraqis and Americans. Americans receive photos of the installation and letters from the students of their sponsored school. Water for Peace also provides health education to Iraqis on avoiding contracting water-borne diseases.

Thus far, 32 schools and one teaching hospital have received water sanitation units, providing clean water to over 8,000 students and countless patients and doctors in a 200-bed teaching hospital.

One donor, Steve, feels a special connection to Iraq, having traveled there in December 2002 just a few months before the war started. He says about his experience, “I visited some of the dysfunctional water treatment plants in southern Iraq where replacement parts were denied entry under sanctions insisted upon by our government. Before the war, Veterans for Peace were trying to repair some of those facilities, one at a time. With the war, even that was stopped. The work that Water for Peace is doing is essential and life-giving. I’m excited to participate.”

Water for Peace action is focused in the province of Najaf, population 1.2 million, which lies 100 miles south of Baghdad and has expanded to surrounding areas. Approximately 500 schools, as well as 20 hospitals and clinics in the region are in desperate need of clean water systems.

Connecting with America

In fall 2009, Minneapolis, Minnesota officially became Sister Cities with Najaf, Iraq. As Sister Cities, Minneapolis and Najaf aim to promote peace by building social, cultural, educational and economic ties, advancing mutual respect, understanding and cooperation.

Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota. Known for its abundance of natural freshwater lakes and rivers, the name “Minneapolis” in fact means City of Lakes. In July 2010, Minneapolis will hold its 71^st annual city-wide event celebrating the city’s water bodies, and water culture, called the Aquatennial.

On July 18^th, Minneapolis will celebrate its Sister City relationship at the Aquatennial. During this time IARP will educate Minneapolis citizens about the needs of our friends in Iraq and how each American can help through Water for Peace. Minneapolis, a city so bountiful with clean water resources, has so much opportunity to give to it’s sister Najaf, a city so much in need of clean water.

Programs like Water for Peace, which bring essential aid while connecting communities, are instrumental in communicating to the Iraqi people that the American people indeed care. As a community, we can face the challenge and take up responsibility to help rebuild the country that has been so devastated in our name. We have the power to bring health, hope and a future to Iraq’s next generation.

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Water for Peace is sponsored by the Iraqi & American Reconciliation Project (IARP) of MN whose mission is to promote reconciliation between the people of the United States and Iraq in response to the devastation affecting Iraqi families, society and culture.

For more information or to learn how to get involved, please visit our website at www.reconciliationproject.org or contact Mika at mika@reconciliationproject.org for more information.

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[1] Hacaoglu, Selcan, “Iraq Suffers from Dirty Water, Fears About Cholera” The Huffington Post (1 August 2008), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/01/iraq-suffers-from-dirty-w_n_116473.html.

[2] Michelle Singer, “Iraq’s Water Woes,” CBS News (3 August 2007), http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/03/eveningnews/main3132093.shtml.

[3] Angela Balakrishnan, “Millions of Iraqis at risk from contaminated water, says Red Cross,” The Guardian (29 October 2008), http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/29/iraq-middleeast-red-cross.

4 USAID, “Iraq-Complex Emergency: Situation Report #1” (5 May 2010) http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/countries/iraq/template/fs_sr/FY2010/iraq_ce_sr01_05-05-2010.pdf

[5] Jomana Karadsheh, “Iraq works to reverse doctor brain drain,” CNN (29 September 2008), http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/29/iraq.doctors/index.html.

Students at Perpich Center Arts High School in Minneapolis, USA recently created postcards to send to students in Iraq as part of their “Women and Water” project. The students also wrote messages on the backs of the postcards. Below is a sample of what will be sent to Iraq.

If your school would like to be involved in the Iraqi Art Project, please contact us.

A commentary piece written by Sami Rasouli, Director of IARP’s partner organization the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, appeared in the Star Tribune on February 22, 2010. In the commentary, Sami writes, “In January, I returned to Iraq. I left Minneapolis with thanks for Americans’ commitment to peace and their generous spirit. I left, also, with a plea: Let us remember the people of my other homeland, Iraq. Let us remember our brothers and sisters.” To read the whole piece, click here.

Below is a story of a volunteer who has connected with an Iraqi Artist, Anwar Qamar.

From Iraq to Minnesota: Connecting through Art

Barb is a Minnesotan who recently heard Sami Rasouli, Director of MPT, speak about life in Iraq and the continuing consequences of war. After Sami’s talk, Barb wrote, “We were all devastated, and called to action, and also inspired by the potential that we people can reach across to each

other and simply create peace.” Barb bought a painting by Iraqi artist Anwar Qamar that Sami had brought with him. She emailed Anwar and, with some help in getting the email to Anwar from IARP’s partner in Iraq the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, talked with Anwar via their computers. Anwar showed Barb other pieces of his work and asked her to speak slowly so he could catch the English.

In an earlier email to Anwar, Barb wrote, “After (Sami’s) talk, I had a chance to look through the paintings which Sami brought.  As soon as I saw your painting, “Help!” I burst into tears, grabbed it and bought it.  It is now hanging right in front of me.  Just now when I rolled open your painting and found your contact information on the back, I cried again.  Again the horror of what is happening in Iraq was made real to me.  Thank you for sending your cry for help.  We have heard it and I am answering that call.”

Barb is excited about how art can help personalize Iraqis to Americans. She plans to arrange for art shows in the LaCrosse-Winona area and is starting her outreach with a popular restaurant. She plans to do the front work of talking with the owners and then coordinate with IARP about selecting Iraqi pieces.

Barb told Anwar in another email, “I am so grateful and I look forward to being in touch with you, Anwar, and developing this wonderful connection between ordinary people who care about goodness and beauty, and about justice. Please do write to me, Anwar.  I want you to know many things- mostly that there are millions of people like me here in the US, and all over the world, who are hearing your cry and know what’s happened.  I am working hard to help….

There is no news here about radioactive dust, about cancer and dead babies and poisoned water and destroyed systems.  Everything is kept at a comfortable distance in the media. I want to keep your cry for help fresh and close so that I will mobilize to help you in a powerful way. We are all one family. I am your friend. I hope to have the opportunity to meet you someday….

This is the truth which, together, we can bring out of our hearts and make real on this earth in Iraq: ‘Every object and being in the universe is a jar overflowing with wisdom and beauty,a drop of the Tigris that cannot be contained by any skin. Every jarful spills and makes the earth more shining, as though covered in satin… Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now. Every moment, a new beauty‘ (Rumi).

We can do this together:

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has‘ (Margaret Mead).”

If you would like to get involved with the Iraqi Art Project, please contact Tricia Heuring, Director of the Iraqi Art Project, at tricia (at) reconciliationproject.org. To see a sample of the Iraqi art that IARP shows in the U.S., click here.

Our friends at The Simple Way and filmmaker Jamie Moffett are creating a documentary called, “The Gospel of Rutbah.” The trailer is below. For more information, visit http://www.thesimpleway.org/rutba/.