Wala al-Hamdani, Nineveh
Wala al-Hamdani, Nineveh
The miserable reality of poor public services by local authorities couldn’t handcuff Ali Mikhebir to keep watching so he decided shoulder by shoulder with Kaka’i youngsters of Wardik village of al-Hamdaniya district to voluntarily rebuild what Islamic State ISIS destroyed in 2014.
Ali, 29, has got master degree in Arabic literature and is a Kak’i activist. He managed to establish “Wirdik Youth Group” for voluntary services to offer public services for the marginalized village and its impoverished residents.
He and his friends decided not to want for other hands and use theirs to rebuild their village by a 5,000 Iraqi Dinar IQD donation from each family a month.
“Since 2003, no single street paved in Wirdik,” Ali said angrily.
Ali and his volunteer team decided to depend on their capabilities and not to wait for the government projects.
One of the challenges was lack of proper sewage and dirty pond in the middle of the village. Ali and his team have built a sewage box by brick to lead the waste away from the village.
The project was implemented by their hands with no support from anywhere. This made the team popular and get support from al the locals.
The Kaka’i community of Ali were forced to desert their homes in August 2014 following the invasion of Daesh who controlled Nineveh province and one third of Iraq. Ali has led a difficult life away from home as he was obliged to delay his education, a dream to get a degree and get state employment.
“I was missing evenings by the river half a km away from our village. We left everything behind and pushed to leave our town and dreams.”
Once Nineveh was recaptured by Iraqi troops in 2017, they found the village destroyed and their temples demolished. The destruction motivated the villagers to rebuild their houses.
While he was away from his education living in IDP camp, he involved in trainings by NGOs in Kurdistan region and built a network of contacts.
Ali's team boosted volunteer work spirit in the village.
Ali was also interested in media in order to convey his community’s voice in particular and the minorities in general.
Ali was pleased to go back to Mosul and resume his education. He got bachelor then master degree to affirm that oppression comes to end if we cling to our dreams and peaceful life.
Ali looks to spread his idea to all Kaka’I villages in Nineveh so that each village has its dream team to offer a better life for the vulnerable community.
