Sana Basim is Mission East's Head of Programmes in Iraq. She is happy working for a flexible organization that helps women - irrespective of their religious affiliations and ethnic identities - to survive abuse and support themselves and their children.

- It touches me deeply that the Yazidi women say stop the abuse. And that they have found dignity. This is what visual artist Karsten Auerbach says after seeing paintings by Yazidis during trauma treatment in Iraq.

Funds from the large-scale Danish Collection on January 29 will go to displaced and Corona-affected children in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Help the children of the Corona crisis. This is the theme for this year's Danmarks Indsamling (Danish Collection), which culminates in a major TV show on the national television DR1 on Saturday evening, 29 January 2022.

Here is the story of a 21-year-old woman who was captured by ISIS and used as a sex slave for almost a year and a half before she managed to escape. She survived but has had to live with violent trauma and is only now coming back to life with support from Mission East.

Paintings by women from the Yazidi minority speak clearly about grief, pain and suffering, says an art therapist with experience from the aftermath of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At Mission East's Civic Center in the Iraqi city of Sinjar, a group of girls and women sit and paint the assaults they cannot express in words. Pain over death, grief over missing friends and their own trauma after violence and sexual abuse.

A mayor of a Yazidi village was deeply moved during Mission East's visit: “We are persecuted, but the water from your project helps us to live and survive. Our greatest desire is to feel safe in our own home.”

Managing Director Betina Gollander-Jensen has just returned from a trip to Iraq, where a visit to the Yazidi city Sinjar in particular made a big impression. The old town area is still in ruins. The people feel let down by the international community. Yazidi women are deeply traumatized after being captured by Islamic State. And community leaders are seeing signs that another genocide is on the way.

Managing Director Betina Gollander-Jensen was both moved and inspired when, in a virtual tour of the ISIS-ravaged Sinjar, she met recipients of the help of Mission East.

"I have had a fantastic meeting with employees and beneficiaries in Sinjar!"

Violence against women is a taboo in Iraq. Now the women are responding by paintings at one of Mission East's civic centers in Sinjar, Iraq.

“In our culture, women are expected to remain silent when it comes to violence, whether the violence is domestic violence, rape or assault by a stranger. But silence cannot heal wounds or solve the problem."

Violence against women is a taboo in Iraq. But now the women are striking back through paintings as part of a project at Mission East's community center in Sinjar.

"In our culture women are expected to remain silent when it comes to violence, no matter the violence is a domestic violence, rape or assault from a stranger, silence cannot heal wounds and address the problem.”

Karam had to flee from Islamic State's occupation of Mosul. Today he drives into the same Mosul as driver for Mission East. Meanwhile, he puts aside the anxiety and the bad memories. Of course, I have to help my neighbors, he says.

Karam was part of the team that ran into Mosul after the city had just been exposed to some of the worst bomb attacks, and parts of the city were still in the midst of active conflict. Along with four other Mission East employees, Karam provided relief packages to the hungry population after Islamic State was pushed out of town.

Adolescents in Iraq are key nexus players in the process of restoring everyday life in Sinjar. That is why Mission East helps the young people where the needs are

The Yezidis in Sinjar district are currently at ground zero. They stand in the ruins of what was once their home and need to find a new foothold.

A family father got money from Mission East to rebuild his destroyed house in West Mosul. With the money, his wife could also get a surgery. 

It is incredible what you can accomplish with a small fund in the bombed-out Iraqi city of Mosul.  

For 350 Euros, the 36-year-old Ahmad Abbas could afford to repair his house and even had a little left to pay for medical help.

Playing, learning and performing daily routines in familiar surroundings is beneficial for children suffering from war-related trauma, explains psychologist with experience in trauma care in crisis-affected countries.

Mission East’s partner in Mosul has helped 150 boys beginning the new school year with fresh haircuts.

Khaled is only five years old, but his short life has been dramatic so far. The little boy from the war-torn city of Mosul lost his father during the violent battle over the city, and when his family’s house was bombed into pieces, they had to settle in another neighbourhood. 

A Yezidi family in the Iraqi town of Sinune are looking forward to reopening their shop that was destroyed by Islamic State.

By Kim Wiesener, Communication Manager – June 2018

The words ”Lions of Islamic State” are written in large, black letters on the shop front. This graffiti is an unpleasant reminder of the violent times in August 2014 when the extremist movement invaded this part of Northern Iraq.

On Mount Sinjar in Northern Iraq Mission East helps local Yazidis to create a new life for themselves. The activities include beekeeping and growing vegetables in large greenhouses.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Manager

While Heba puts on her protection suit, the bees are humming loudly, joyfully and persistently in the background – as to emphasize the necessity of shielding oneself against their stings. She walks over to one of the beehives, opens the lid and proudly displays its contents.

More than 600 children attend the Mission East child centre in a poor neighbourhood in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Most of them have been displaced by war. At the centre they can play, learn and process the often harrowing experiences they have been through.

By Kim Wiesener, Communication Manager, November 2017

Mission East has distributed food in several devastated neighbourhoods in West Mosul. Shamil, Saabira and Ahmed, who have all received emergency relief, recount the time during and after Islamic State.

By Kim Wiesener, Communication Manager, November 2017

When the front line reached Shamil’s street in West Mosul, about ten Islamic State warriors entered his house and set up camp there while awaiting the arrival of their enemy. They did not let any of the inhabitant’s escape, using them as human shields to avoid air strikes.

The members of a Yezidi family in northern Iraq were brutally separated from each other because of Islamic State. The family has not heard from three of the children for more than two years. They are either still in captivity – or dead.

By Kim Wiesener, Communication Manager, November 2017

Mission East has provided air coolers for an entire IDP camp in Iraq. They make the summer heat bearable for the camp’s more than 10,000 inhabitants who have escaped from Islamic State.

By Kim Wiesener, Communication Manager, October 2017

There is a world of difference between a tent with an air cooler – and a tent without one. This becomes very clear when there isn’t a cloud in the sky, the temperature reaches 45 degrees, and the Nazrawa Camp is suddenly hit by a power cut.

Mission East has hired people who are displaced because of the conflict in Iraq to paint schools in a neighbourhood in Kirkuk. They earn an income, acquire new skills and make the local area look nicer.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Manager, October 2017

In a village just south of Mosul, the inhabitants are on the edge of starvation and affected by almost three years of occupation by Islamic State. That is why Mission East has distributed food to them – and plans to do more. e

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Manager, October 2017

It all started when a group of students wanted to make a difference in their war-torn country. Today, Mission East’s partner Humanity has grown into an organisation that helps thousands of Iraqis.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Manager, September 2017

Rozh Ahmed, 25, was the only female member of Mission East’s emergency response team as it started relief distributions in Mosul in late 2016. The experience has been tough and educational for her.

By Kim Wiesener, Communication manager, October 2017

If Rozh Ahmed had decided on a secure and predictable course in life, she might have become a university lecturer in her home city of Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan. Instead, the bright and well-educated woman has chosen to be in the frontline of Mission East’s relief effort in war-torn Mosul.

Seeing the distress of displaced Iraqi families made a strong impression on Danish parliamentarian Christina Egelund. She witnessed Mission East staff deliver emergency aid near Mosul and Kirkuk with dignity and respect for the displaced families.

By Svend Løbner, journalist

It is useful for politicians to get a glimpse of reality and meet people who have lost everything and depend completely on humanitarian aid from Denmark.

An emergency relief kit can make a big difference to an Iraqi family.

Earlier this year, Najib, an Iraqi father and farmer, returned to his home in the Christian village of Telasquf near Mosul after having been displaced from there for two and a half years. When he met the Managing Director of Mission East, Kim Hartzner, he thanked him for the relief that he and his village had recently received.

Last year, Mission East was one of the first international organisations to help the population of East Mosul. Since then, the organisation has also been at the forefront of relief efforts for the beleaguered inhabitants in the western part of the city.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

Managing Director Kim Hartzner visited Iraq in March together with Christina Egelund, spokesperson on political affairs for one of the governing parties in Denmark, Liberal Alliance. Meeting Mission East beneficiaries made a strong impression on both of them.

By Svend Løbner, Journalist, and Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

Samira’s story gives a unique insight into the situation of Iraqi IDPs. Fear is the predominant feeling, and requirements for the future are modest. Samira and her family had to endure IS abuse for two years. Now they live in an IDP camp where they have received mattresses from Mission East.

By Svend Løbner, Journalist

Fear has taken hold of Samira’s body. The 25-year old mother escaped with her husband and children from the cruel regime of Islamic State and now live in a tent in Daquq IDP Camp outside Kirkuk in Iraq.

20 January 2017

The Dane Knud Andersen and his Mission East team have distributed emergency aid to 9,000 displaced people in and around Mosul. “We are close to the frontline and can hear planes and artillery above us,” he said.

This week, Mission East distributed more emergency aid to people fleeing the fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The organisation has handed out cooking utensils and hygiene kits to hundreds of families near the war zone.

Abdullah Said, a 21-year old Iraqi IT student, has escaped twice from the terrorist movement Islamic State. Now he is taking care of small children in one of Mission East’s child centres – in a camp where he is living himself.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

The chemistry is obvious. When Abdullah Said teaches Arabic writing to boys and girls of kindergarten age, everyone is smiling and laughing. Learning should be fun, and it is when he is working with three- to five-year-old kids at the Mission East Child Friendly Space at Nazrawa Camp.

In the summer of 2014, the world was shaken by the news of Islamic State’s horrific treatment of everyone who did not support their rigid interpretation of Islam. Mission East is helping displaces Iraqis with support for body and mind.

By Svend Løbner, freelance journalist

At the Mission East youth centre on Sinjar Mountain, 50 young Yezidi girls have learnt to cut hair, while others have become adept at using a sewing machine.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

The young girls are handling the situation with a combination of seriousness and smiles. They are intensely focused on creating a beautiful, almost Hollywood-like, hairstyle for their friend, but it is also obvious that they are having fun.

A Yezidi family on Sinjar Mountain has been split into several parts due to the ravage of Islamic State in Northern Iraq. Four members are still prisoners of the terrorist movement.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

Naida has ten children – but only six of them are with her. Naida’s three oldest sons and one daughter are captives of the terrorist movement Islamic State. And the fate of her husband is uncertain.

Binay Basyal is Mission East’s country director in conflict-ridden Iraq. The Nepalese aid worker is no stranger to civil wars – he experienced one in his home country.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

What does it take to lead a Mission East office in a war zone? According to Binay Basyal, it requires a combination of calmness and indignation – on top of the necessary professional skills.

The Danish emergency aid specialist, Knud Andersen, has been in Iraq since October to coordinate Mission East’s efforts to help the many people who are fleeing Mosul. A humanitarian disaster of this scale requires a lot of planning – and flexibility.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

Distribution of emergency aid is like a giant jigsaw puzzle. A lot of pieces need to fall into place when the scale of a humanitarian crisis becomes as large as it is expected to be when the flow of refugees out of Mosul escalates.

Eight-year old Mahmoud has a serious disability, but the Mission East mobile child centre has inspired him to go back to school.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

When Mahmoud was five years old, he started feeling the symptoms of the disease that has now tied him to a wheelchair. A couple of years later, when he was in second grade, his school sent him home. It simply was not equipped to handle a pupil suffering from muscular dystrophy.

In December 2015, displaced Iraqi families received help to cope with the winter cold.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Officer

Jihan, her husband and their four children live in an unfinished concrete house. The window frames are big, gaping holes, and the “entrance door” to their temporary home is a thin piece of cloth.

Infectious diseases can cost the lives of people who have fled from war. At the centres established by Mission East in northern Iraq, children who have fled from war learn how to keep infection away with soap and water.

Red, blue and green finger paints are spread over plates all around the floor, and next to them are large, white sheets of paper ready to be decorated. After a while the paper sheets are littered with hand prints, and the many children in the room raise their coloured hands in excitement. 

First, their village was occupied by IS. After that, bombs fell. 13-year-old Yasser and his family are marked by the war they fled from. Now they get help from Mission East.

Thousands of Yazidis in North Iraq have now returned to Sinjar Mountain from where they fled when the Islamic State attacked the area more than one year ago. Mission East is helping them with sanitation, shelter and processing the trauma.

A group of women and children were freed from Islamic State while Kim Hartzner was visiting Kirkuk in northern Iraq. As with all refugees, they are in desperate need of everything in order to make it through the coming winter. Mission East is distributing food and hygiene kits.

"We saw a whole group of people who had been liberated from their ISIS captors the very same day," says Managing Director Kim Hartzner, who has just returned from a visit to a village near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Everything changed for Ade and her children when they had to flee their home in Sinjar and leave everything behind one early morning last year. Life as an internally displaced person in northern Iraq is desperately hard, but at Mission East’s centre for support for displaced women and children, Ade gets the chance for a new beginning.

By Mev Bardiqi with translation by Azad Rasho, relief workers, Northern Iraq