Meet Haifa, from displacement to serving communities

In 2022, our Lotus team visited Derabon village, an informal settlement where many IDPs live, to conduct an assessment. There they met Haifa, an active community member aware of the needs and challenges in Derabon. She joined the Lotus Flower first as a community mobiliser, and she now works as a caseworker for our General Protection project with CARE Iraq and ECHO in our Sharia District Centre. 

Originally from Khanasor, Sinjar. Haifa, our caseworker, tells her story of displacement and resilience. “We never believed the threats of ISIS until our relatives from Qiblat [south of Sinjar] fled to our house; their son was already captured by ISIS. There I felt the real danger.” 

Her family, like many others, used to be farmers of okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. “We used to farm in all seasons,” she said. 

“We had two cars, but only my uncle’s car had enough fuel to make it to the Kurdistan region. Our car didn’t have enough fuel and would only get us as far as some Arab villages, like Rabi’a, before running out. That area was extremely dangerous at the time, so we made the difficult decision to escape to Sinjar Mountain instead.” 

Haifa tells us a story about her childhood friend, whom she shared the same desk for six years. “She was captured by ISIS along with 62 members of her family. Ten years have passed since then, and we still have no information about her fate or what happened to her.”

In 2022, when our team visited Derabon village [an informal settlement that many IDPs live in] to conduct an assessment, Haifa met our team; she was an active girl and aware of the community’s needs and challenges, having lived there for nine years. She soon started to work with us as a community mobilizer. Now, three years later, she works as a caseworker for our General Protection project with CARE Iraq and ECHO in our Sharia District Centre. 

“I live in Bajd Kandala IDP camp, which is an hour away from my workplace, but the passion I feel makes me happy to come here every day.”

“I work not just for my family but for the cases I handle and the vulnerable communities who depend on and wait for our services.” Haifa says.

Haifa talks about her work and says, “There are times that my cases refuse to see a psychotherapist; a skilled caseworker needs to gently convince them for their best interest.”  Haifa has significantly impacted the lives of women: "I have seen women who have struggled with mental health issues and have attempted self-harm." “We provided case management services and referred her to our psychologist; now, after 4 months, she has overcome those struggles and started her own business.” 

Haifa mentions that her work with The Lotus Flower helped her both financially and mentally. “The income I had from work was the reason my siblings continued their education.” She hopes that one day she can also continue her education and own her private business.

Despite work, Haifa enjoys travelling and enjoying life in nature!