Dear friends,

I thought I would write a little bit about what MCC is doing in Iraq in terms of programming. I think my previous posts were a little on the looooong side, so I will try to be concise with this one.

MCC first began sponsoring Iraqi partners in 1993, and sent its first service worker to live in Iraq in 1998. During the time of Saddam (this is a phrase that is used a lot here, and I can tell sometimes it still sounds funny to Iraqis when they say it, now 5 years after the fall of the regime.) During the time of Saddam, the work that MCC sponsored through its partners focused on relief and development work in the context of a downward-spiraling economy under the sanctions regime. In earlier decades Iraq had been prosperous relative to neighboring Arab countries, but a long and bloody war with Iran during the eighties, the tightening grip of totalitarianism, the invasion of Kuwait and subsequent backlash, and a decade of international sanctions left Iraqi society poorer and more broken every year. Projects sponsored by MCC were aimed at alleviating the corrosive effects of underemployment, poor health, and deprivation.

Two young Iraqis working on the construction of a new building pause for a picture

The basic needs of Iraqis, like the course of their history, changed somewhat after 2003. When the United States failed to establish security in the first few months after the fall of Saddam and various ethnic and religious groups began competing for control, cycles of violence slowly accelerated the polarization process until a state of decentralized civil war became inevitable. Five years later polarization is advanced, both physically and emotionally. Iraqis who were not able to leave the country now live in a checkered geography of homogeneous zones, divided along lines of religion and ethnicity. But it’s not only checkpoints and the threat of death by local militias that keep Shi’is and Sunnis and Kurds and Christians in their respective places; it is the deep wounds of murdered loved ones and the visceral revulsion that grows between mortal enemies. Iraqis are skeptical that their country has the ingredients it needs (such as a unifying national consciousness or the rule of law) to make the slow transition from horrific civil war to a stable society and economy later on in the future. If it does, it will take many generations.

A Christian man prepares tea for his guests at a construction site

While the burdens of poverty and deprivation that weighed heavily on Iraqi families during the years of sanctions continue to erode the quality of life, Iraqis are now facing new, multi-layered crises generated by the wide-spread violence and insecurity. Through its partners MCC is working to respond to the urgent needs of Iraqis while also laying foundations for long-term social change. A majority of MCC’s partners are Iraqi non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and some are international non-profits who have a history of doing responsible work in Iraq. “During the time of Saddam” civil society organizations were officially non-existent, and functioned only dimly under the radar of the Ba’ath party. Since 2003 thousands of NGOs and other civil society groups have been formed, but flagrant assassinations and kidnappings have forced them to operate with a very low profile. Many managers of Iraqi NGOs have become refugees because of their social service, and they now work remotely from Amman. Yet civil society in Iraq is a creature destined to live, struggling to breathe but very much alive.

Iraqi youth from several villages in the north gathered in Erbil in February to talk and connect through games and discussions. Youth are an important sector of Iraqi society

MCC partners carry out relief programs all over the country, such as supplying hospitals in Baghdad with emergency medical supplies, providing clean water to rural villages in the north, or providing school supplies for the children of uprooted families. At the same time they also do longer-term development projects designed by beneficiary communities themselves, such as micro-credit projects for stimulating small businesses in Kirkuk, operating a supportive home for widows and orphans in Mosul, and providing conflict transformation courses for university students in Baghdad and elsewhere. Peace-related programs are especially important, helping to nurture a social infrastructure of relationships in Iraq that cross the boundaries of religion and ethnicity. MCC and its partners approach this long-term work both through stand-alone peacebuilding programs like dialogues and workshops, and by designing community development programs in such a way that they have a natural “connective” effect between groups in conflict. This kind of “integrated” programming holds particular promise in Iraq; While people permeated with the fear and mistrust of violent conflict might be skeptical of programs that address the relationship between enemy groups directly, antagonist communities may be more willing to work together toward a shared goal.

A Kurdish family from Erbil welcomed MCC staff in their home during a trip to northern Iraq. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but with a different history and identity than Arab Muslims.

MCC’s Iraqi partners themselves are a reflection of important peacebuilding values. They come from every community: Kurdish, Sunni, Shi’i, Christian, and combinations thereof. While they face significant challenges not only from general security threats but also the difficulty of working across deeply divided sectarian lines, they do an excellent job creating inclusive programs designed to meet the needs of all Iraqis.

The Chaldean church in Iraq is another long-time partner. For many years MCC has provided funding for Babel College of Philosophy and Theology, a Chaldean college in Baghdad. MCC funds have allowed Babel College to buy books for its growing library, as well as other improvement projects. A series of MCC service workers based in Baghdad also supported the college over the years by teaching English and Theology classes part-time. The last of these, Peter Dula, who is now a professor at Eastern Mennonite University, worked for MCC in Baghdad and taught classes at Babel until late 2004, when it became too dangerous for him to stay. Threats and kidnappings of Chaldean priests and parishioners by militant groups in the area were steadily increasing. Finally the college itself left Baghdad a few years later under heavy pressure. It relocated to the city of Erbil in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq in early 2007, where there is relative safety. Based for now in Erbil, the college invited MCC to send another service worker to come back to Iraq and continue teaching classes part-time. I arrived in late November, and the rest of the story we have yet to see. MCC will continue to strengthen its relationship with the Chaldean church in the coming years.

Many students at Babel College are young men studying to become priests in the Chaldean church. I live with them at St. Peter Seminary in Ankawa. They come from all over Iraq, many from Baghdad and many from villages in the north. Here a few of them are posing with me outside of their shared residence. Some of them are also my English students

Iraqis have been crushed by violence and repression for a long time, yet they are magnetic peoples with a beautiful spirit. The current cycles of violence dismembering their society do not show signs of ebbing any time soon, yet Iraqis of every kind are working hard to build better communities. MCC has nurtured important relationships with Iraqis over the years, and it remains hopeful that the strength of these relationships and the good work that results will offer a constructive contribution to a more peaceful life in Iraq.