Sisters’ Stories: “ISIS took our town and everything we had”
This is Kheriya, one of the young women who has experienced the benefits of our English language classes first-hand.
Originally from Sinjar, she was just a young girl living an ordinary and happy life until the conflict of 2014 turned her world upside down. “Before displacement I was a child in a safe environment with my family,” she says.
“I would play with my friends and have fun as a kid. When ISIS invaded, they took our town and everything we had. They took everything beautiful that we used to have.”
Since then, Kheriya has lived at Essyan camp with her family, and she has of course found the intervening years extremely tough. “Life here at the camp is barely manageable, but it is still better than returning to my unsafe town,” she stresses.
Although she always wanted to learn English and learn new skills, such opportunities remained out of reach – until she heard about the Lotus Flower’s projects.
Keen to find out more, she began attending classes at our Essyan centre, and adds: “I learned basic English language, and would pay so much attention to the teacher, taking notes on everything she gave.”
Kheriya now wants others to have the chance to take part in our educational activities, saying: “They can help you develop your skills and teach you reading and writing. Everything about the Lotus Flower is awesome, from teachers to the whole environment at the centre.
“I’m not the only one who liked the progress I achieved; my family were happy too that I got the chance to learn new things, and all I wish for in the future is inner peace.”
While we’re really happy that we’ve helped Kheriya in this way, there are so many more girls and women like her that we want to reach, and that means we need help from you – our supporters. Please do donate or get involved with our work in other ways if you can, because as Kheriya’s experience shows, when we work together we can genuinely change lives…
