Printer-friendly VersionBy Aiyob Mawloodi
The Kurdish Globe
Haitians, "a thousand times poorer" than Kurds, receive aid from Kurdistan Region's young.
Under the slogan "Despite of our own pains, we care about others' pains," the Kurdistan Regional Government made its donation to the people of Haiti.
A ceremony for the donation was attended by Dr. Fuad Hussein, Kurdistan Region's presidency Chief of Staff, Falah Mustafa, Head of KRG Office for Foreign Relations, Kristen Coelho, Kurdistan Region's Director of the International Red Cross Organization, Asos Najib Abdullah, the KRG Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Nawzad Hadi, Erbil Governor, a number of diplomats from foreign countries' representative offices in Kurdistan, other KRG ministries and institutions, and NGOs.
The effort was initiated by a number of youths from the city of Suleimaniya, who collected a sum of US$52,000 as aid to the victims of Haiti's earthquake.
KRG Foreign Relations Head Mr. Mustafa opened the ceremony with a speech in which he expressed his appreciation for the initiative and said that the amount of the aid is not as important as the value of the initiative and thinking is.
"While our nation has dozens of disasters and sufferings, the international community hasn't offered a helping hand," said Mustafa at the ceremony. "It is a pleasure that this amount has been collected and is being handed over to the International Red Cross, who is a trusted organization and will deliver it to Haiti.
Peshawa Zana, head of the fund-raising campaign, gave a speech at the ceremony and said that they, as the Kurdish nation, feel the sufferings of other nations.
"That was why we, a number of youths, initiated this effort--to show people that the Kurdish nation, despite its current situation, is ready and willing to do its humanistic responsibility and help people who live on the other side of the world," said Zana, thanking all those who participated in the campaign.
Dr. Hussein expressed President Massoud Barzani's gratitude toward campaign members, and said "our nation has become familiar with foreign aid since the 1991 mass immigration, and until now thousands of aid organizations have helped our nation."
"This initiative is a sign that our nation is an active nation. Whatever the amount of the fund is, it is normal. But the aid has its own significance that serves as a bridge between Kurdistan and the outside world."
In attendance was Dr. Fredrik Tissot, General Consul of France in the Kurdish Region, who was partially paralyzed in Haiti a few years ago. He expressed his happiness with the donation.
"I am very happy to see the Kurdish nation helping the Haitian people, who are a thousand times poorer than the Kurds," said Tissot. "I appreciate this aid and thank the Red Cross for delivering it to Haiti."
Coelho gave a brief about the efforts and activities of her organization, the Red Cross, and especially their activities in Haiti where their teams reached the area immediately after the catastrophe. She said that the fund was received from Kurdish youths via their main office in Geneva, Switzerland, where it will be forwarded to Haiti.
At the end of the ceremony, representing the activists of the campaign, Dr. Hussein and Mr. Mustafa handed a sample check with the amount of US$52,000 to Ms. Coelho.
Haiti's earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicenter near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, January 12. As of February 12, an estimated 3 million people were affected by the quake; the Haitian government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless. The death toll is expected to rise. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.