Newsletter No. 355
Information-Announcement
August 12, 2006

 

In our first month of operations -- in June 2005 -- we received an appeal from Motohiro Ono (Shingetsu Member No. 29) for donations for an orphanage in Samawa. A brief outline of the project was given in Shingetsu Newsletter No. 18. Today, Mr. Ono, who is affiliated with the Middle East Research Institute of Japan (and is well-known nationally as a television commentator on Iraq), has been kind enough to contribute to the Shingetsu Institute this report on the orphanage project.

THE PROCESS AND THE COMPLETION OF THE SAMAWA ORPHANAGE PROJECT
By Motohiro Ono

I would like to highlight and explain the challenge undertaken by the Japanese private sector to alleviate the suffering of Iraqi orphans at Samawa. An NGO called Lions Clubs International at Saitama prefecture, which I belong to, has donated a building at Samawa as an orphanage after collecting funds. This has become the first assistance for reconstruction from the Japanese private sector to Iraq since the war. Also, MOFA decided to donate some facilities at the orphanage under the scheme of grass-roots grant aid.

It would be appreciated if you could introduce our project to Shingetsu members, since this is a new challenge, and some of members of your institute might have made a contribution to this project.

A Brief Explanation of the Project

1) The Republic of Iraq has been continuously put under abnormal situations such as the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-88, the Gulf Crisis and the following war in 1990-91, the United Nations-imposed sanctions from 1990-2003, and the Iraq War in 2003. Under these terrible circumstances, southern Iraq was an area heavily oppressed under the Saddam regime. Especially, socially-weak people such as orphans, were victims of the said circumstances.

2) In Samawa of Muthanna province, there is no orphanage, although volunteer religious well-wishers and organizations took care of orphans. In some areas, it is said that there have been terrorists organizations which recruit youth alienated from society.

3) Considering this serious situation, the Lions Clubs of Saitama prefecture (Lions Clubs International District 330-C) started to devote themselves to the construction of an orphanage at Samawa in order to contribute to the improvement and normalization of the humanitarian situation there.

4) In June 2005, the District Cabinet under Lion Keiko Sakurai called all 108 clubs of Saitama prefecture for cooperation. These clubs started donations and collections activities, while the District Cabinet applied for the Lions Clubs International Fund. On the other hand, a 100 persons’ committee of the Hashida Memorial Muhammad Fund, as well as donors from all over Japan, responded to our call for humanitarian assistance. Such a non-governmental effort resulted in donations totaling 23,513,825 yen (more than US$200,000). This money was controlled under a fund for the construction of the orphanage headed by Lion Keiko Sakurai.

5) On July 1st, 2005, a Non-Governmental Organization called Al-Amal Charitable and Cultural Fund, which helped orphans at Samawa, and the Lions Clubs International District 330-C reached an agreement to grant a building for the orphanage at Samawa. Although it was initially supposed that the construction would be completed by March 2006, there was a delay from the city council in permitting usage of the land for the orphanage, and this forced the putting off of the start of the construction. Finally, however, the construction began in December 2005, and was completed in July of this year. The construction fees, amounting to $185,186, were paid to a local construction company through the Al-Amal Charitable and Cultural Fund. The rest of the amount, after deductions for administration fees such as bank transfer charges, meeting fees, and so on, will be paid to the Al-Amal Charitable and Cultural Fund to run the orphanage. Finally, the Fund for the construction of the orphanage at Samawa will be dissolved after auditing and making a financial report. The management and responsibilities for the operation of the orphanage will be provided by the Al-Amal Charitable and Cultural Fund.

6) The orphanage is one-story and 370 sq. meter width, and may house a maximum of 240 orphans. The dining hall part was donated by the Hashida Memorial Muhammad Fund (inclusive in the aforementioned construction fees). The building is located inside Samawa city, and the land belongs to the Al-Amal Charitable and Cultural Fund.

The Meaning and Significance of this Assistance

1) The alleviation of humanitarian tragedy as mentioned above.

2) The historical significance of creating a bridge between peoples of the two countries as the first non-governmental construction assistance to Iraq from Japan.

3) The accomplishment of an unique and flexible collaboration between non-governmental and governmental assistance; buildings from non-governmental organization and facilities including a generator, beds, desks, and so on, from the Government’s grass-roots assistance.

4) Non-governmental assistance to Samawa might contribute to the safety of the Ground Self-Defense Forces' units, and adding NGO efforts to Japanese official assistance could enhance the positive impression of the local residents of all-Japan contributions.

5) The assistance for weak people, who have been the biggest victims of the tragedy after the war, could contribute to weakening the basis for the growth of terrorism.

6) This contribution may hopefully become a symbol of all-Japan assistance to Iraq in the future.

Here is the relevant Kyodo News report:

Iraq-Japan-Orphanage TOKYO, Aug. 9 (Kyodo) -- An orphanage has been built in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah funded by the Lions Club in Saitama Prefecture and part of donations raised to treat an Iraqi boy who had his eye injured during a battle in Iraq, the club said Wednesday. The orphanage, which was completed in July, is the first facility built in Iraq with money from Japan's private sector after the Iraqi war, according to the club, formally called the District 330-C of the Lions Clubs International. The orphanage, which can accommodate up to 240 children, was built with the budget of about 23.5 million yen, which the club says its members collected by soliciting contributions and by other charitable activities. A nongovernmental organization in Samawah is commissioned to run the facility. As club members refrain from going to Iraq due to security concerns, Japanese diplomats and Ground Self-Defense Force troops stationed there coordinated the construction work, the club said. The Japanese government also provided generators, beds and other materials needed to run the facility through a grant. "We can't let a terrorist organization use Iraqi orphans," Motohiro Ono, a senior researcher at the Middle East Research Institute of Japan said at a press conference in Tokyo. Ono is also a club member. An Iraqi man involved in the running of the orphanage said in Samawah, "Japan contributed (to Samawah) a lot. We want to open the orphanage and let children play as soon as electric power supply begins." Part of the construction cost came from the Hashida Memorial Mohamad Fund, which was set up by Japanese supporters of Mohamad Haytham Saleh, the Iraqi boy who had his left eye treated in Japan. Japan's GSDF troops completed withdrawing from the Iraqi city in July after two and a half years of a reconstruction and humanitarian mission there.