Syrian Refugee Camp at Kawrgosk Kurdistan
This morning we arrived at the Divan Hotel for a short meeting with Sardar. He is a Kurdish man who works in the government with charities. He is telling us his story and why he is so involved in the refugee camps for the Syrian people. He was 9 years old when they took his father and he was left to support his family. He had to flee into the mountains of Turkey as a Kurdish refugee during the fighting and massacres. He became a Peshmerga or Kurdish Freedom fighter and eventually made his way to Holland and worked there in the Socialist Party for the Kurdish people and their autonomy. Once Sadam was captured and killed the KRG - Kurdish Region Government asked him to come back and work in the Kurdish government. We first met him last September when Elder and Sister Carlson where here for the first time.
At the table you can see Sardar and his driver and then me and Jon at the end. Then there is Sister Carlson and Elder Carlson of the Second Quorum of the Seventies and last is Brother Walter Plum. He and his wife Peggy are our new Service Missionaries. Brother Plum is a close associate of Orrin Hatch and has been a Mission President in Rochester New York as well as Stake President for a couple stakes.
Jon is directing traffic for our caravan to the Syrian Refugee Camp.
This is the entrance to the Refugee Camp in Kawrgosk. It is about an hours drive West and North of Erbil.
When we arrived we were met with a host of cameras and greeted by the Mayor of Kawrgosk. In this picture you can see Sardar, Brother Plum and Elder Carlson.
The man in the mustache is the Mayor. There were many hands to shake.
We were all then escorted in to a caravan for a meeting with the Mayor. You can see Jon, Brother Plum, Elder Carlson and Sardar.
The Mayor thanked LDS Charities for their generous gift of 4000 military kitchens. He praised The Church for their thoughtfulness in asking what was needed and supplying the camp with kitchens. He told us that so many organizations made donations without asking and were giving too many things that were not needed. He said they had too much clothing donations and way too much rice, which the Syrian people don't eat that much.
Jon had a lot to do with the donation of the kitchens as far as providing LDS Charities with Kurdish lawyers and translators and contracts for the donation. It has taken about 4 months, but finally arrived.
The Mayor spoke to us through an interpreter.
A site plan of the camp. There are 14,000 refugees in this camp and 250,000 refugees in Kurdistan. Most of the Syrian refugees are in Lebanon. The people of Syria are fleeing their country by the 10's of thousands every day. Kurdistan has slowed the influx of refugees in to their country to only 3,000 a day and still they come.
Some Syrian women in the camp.
A little Syrian boy with his trike.
Next we walked over to a covered area where the kitchens were ready to be distributed and the Syrian people were lining up to receive them. They had a card that would be punched and would show that they had received a certain donation.
This is a picture of Peggy Plum and Sardar visiting.
Brother Plum handing out Kitchens.
Brother Plum and Elder Carlson handing out kitchens.
A picture of Jon talking to a Syrian women who is the head of the charitable organization that works at this camp.
Elder and Sister Carlson, and Peggy and Walt Plum handing out military kitchens.
Sardar and Jon visiting.
The LDS Charities label on the kitchen box.
Jon, Sardar and the Mayor of Kawrgosk.
Elder Carlson and a Syrian man receiving a military kitchen.
Inside the box is a small butane cooker, pots, pans, cups, a knife and some other things.
In this picture Peggy and I are talking to three Syrian women. They knew a little English and I knew even less Kurdish. The lady in the long gray coat was trying to tell me about her baby. With the help of a nice Kurdish man she was able to tell me that her 5 year old daughter has leukemia. They were telling Peggy and I that they don't need money they need medicine. They said that there was not medicine and that is what they need. There is a hospital, but no medicine for her child.
Elder Carlson and a Syrian boy named John.
Pictures of the camp. Elder Carlson told us that this camp is the best refugee camp that he has ever seen. It was very well organized kept clean and the people seemed to have a lot of dignity.
Elder Carlson passing out candies to the children.
This was the entrance to the hospital.
The ambulance.
The hospital
The medicines in the hospital.
Behind the first building there where about 5 caravans for patient rooms and a lab.
The nurse is waiting.
Amanda these next two are for you. This is the lab and we were told that it isn't operational because they don't have all the equipment that is needed. They don't have a microscope and some other things. The next picture is the sink in the lab and if you look close the black speck on the soap is a fly.
A photo op for the Mayor. We were told that the Mayor received a call one day and was told that he would be receiving 1500 refugees from Syria the next day and to be ready and to his credit, when they got there the camp was ready and everyone received a fresh sandwich.
The media came and did an interview with the Mayor, Elder Carlson and Bro. Plum.
The Plums and Carlsons at our apartment for dinner.
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