Street Lawyers, Doctors, Hope Buses for Iraqi Kids

With every donation, every child's story, and every picture of a boy or girl who no longer works on the street, another chapter is being written in a very special love story.  It is a story that you are helping write, one child at a time. 

The latest chapter - ICF's 2021 Annual Report -  showcases the labor of love of so many people in caring for the vulnerable and voiceless orphans, street kids, and child laborers.  Here are highlights of a few achievements:

• ICF had its biggest year of program spending ever in 2021, with on-the-ground programs for orphans and vulnerable children in Iraq representing 85.6% of our total spend during the year.
  
  
• ICF celebrated five years of the Street Lawyers program, four years of Hope Buses, and a successful one-year pilot of our new Anti-Trafficking program. 
  
  
• ICF continued to support existing projects in Baghdad while also expanding new projects in Mosul and Sinjar. 
  
  
• ICF, The Children’s Village of New York, and four Iraqi partners, published a new edition of "My Life Book," an activity book designed with a simple therapeutic goal of addressing the deep need for belonging in children who have experienced trauma and loss.

As we begin 2022, we are pleased to announce the launch of a new "Transitions" program for hundreds of kids who have finished their studies on the Hope Buses!  We wanted to find a way to followup with them after they leave our care.  You know why?  Does a farmer plant seeds and walk away?  No, he tends to them to ensure they yield a good harvest.  And so it is with the hundreds of children who have been under our care.  The tender seeds planted with much love during their time at the Hope Buses may be at risk if new hardships enter their lives.  So, with our new Transitions initiative, we will follow up with visits to these children and, where necessary, intervene again with legal, social, medical or other support to help them continue their progress.   

By the way, want to do more than donate?  Check out some of the projects featured in the report.  Our supporters are a creative and inspiring bunch and find all kinds of ways to help Iraqi children!  Maybe you too will find inspiration to be a voice for voiceless children in harm’s way. 

Thanks for being on the team for 2022!

Gratefully,
Cindy

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Cindy Fogleman
Staff Advisor
Iraqi Children Foundation
PO Box 233,Falls Church, VA 22040-0233
Mobile: 703.963.3832
cindy@iraqichildren.org