Mosul's Children

A boy in a cinderblock doorway holding a baby

July 26, 2017

With conflict over, Mosul's youngest victims face their next challenge: rebuilding a future.

I recently spent a week in Iraq photographing Mercy Corps’ dedicated teams on the ground as they delivered urgent assistance following the conflict in Mosul. The stories I saw are a startling series of contradictions: gruesome violence and loss juxtaposed with remarkable courage and hope.

I was particularly moved by the children. Maybe as the father of a 1-year-old girl I take these stories more personally than I used to. But it was clear that after so much struggle, many of Mosul’s children have matured beyond their years. One boy lost his father, a policeman who was killed in the conflict; another told us how he struggled to find construction work to support his family, despite being too small and young.

As they assumed responsibility for ailing parents and younger siblings, these kids had their childhoods stolen and their educations put on hold. Even the most shy, soft-spoken children have a rough edge — something below the surface. I think you can see that in the following images: quiet, sad, untrusting eyes, punctuated with the occasional shy smile and genuine youthful laughter. The latter gives me hope for their futures.

I am incredibly proud to be working alongside the brave, hardworking Mercy Corps Iraq team members who are committed to helping these children and their families begin the long process of recovery — and build toward a brighter tomorrow.

Mustafa, 9, carries his 6-month-old cousin, Rayan, near the home they share with their grandmother and five other families. A cash distribution from Mercy Corps helps the family meet their urgent needs after their house and car were destroyed in the conflict. ALL PHOTOS: Ezra Millstein

Shahad, 5, plays on an improvised swing in East Mosul. Nine months of fighting robbed thousands of Mosul’s children of their homes, educations and childhoods. At Mercy Corps youth centers across Iraq, more than 10,000 youth—including displaced youth from Mosul — are developing life, job and vocational skills.

Abdulrahman sleeps on the floor inside his family's tent at the Jeddah displacement camp. His family fled the fighting in Mosul nine months ago. For three days they traveled at night through the desert with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. A household kit from Mercy Corps provided them a kitchen set, six blankets, two jerrycans, a tarp and a rope.

Khawla, 12, waits with her father to receive a cash distribution from Mercy Corps. Since July 2016, Mercy Corps has reached over 12,000 families in Mosul with emergency cash distributions of $400 so they can buy the urgent items they need now.

A young girl waits in line at a Mercy Corps cash distribution in East Mosul. Cash is the fastest, most efficient way to help people in crisis: it empowers them to buy food, medicine, supplies to repair their homes, or inventory to restart their livelihoods.

Othman (left, 7) and his brother, Ali (right, 13), are two of the thousands of children in Mosul who haven’t been able to go to school for nearly three years due to ongoing conflict. Their parents hope to return home one day in the future.

Rama, 3, cools off in an improvised pool made out of a plastic tub for kids to find relief in the sweltering heat. Summer temperatures in Mosul can climb as high as 117 degrees.

When fighting broke out, 15-year-old Freeal left her farm with her family and ran to a displacement camp, where they have lived since January. Now she and her siblings wait in line each morning and evening for water, using jerrycans her family received as part of a Mercy Corps distribution.

Muthana (6, bottom) and her sister Mazin (13, top) receive a household kit at a Mercy Corps distribution at the Jeddah displacement camp. In response to the crisis, Mercy Corps has distributed more than 18,000 kits benefiting more than 81,000 people.

Mohammed, 10, plays with a toy truck that he made inside his family's tent at the Jeddah displacement camp. The toy is a humanitarian aid truck, he says, delivering supplies to the camp.

Left to right: Fatima, 5; Siham, 6; Freeal,15; and Amara, 12, draw on the floor inside their family's tent at the Jeddah displacement camp. Temperatures inside the tents can be sweltering as outside temperatures rise above 100 degrees.

Yaser sits on blankets inside his family's tent at the Jeddah displacement camp. His family has been displaced since the beginning of the conflict when their home was completely destroyed. A kit with household essentials from Mercy Corps ensures his family has a few household items, as they weren’t able to bring anything with them when they fled the violence.

How we're helping

After nine months of fighting, thousands of people in Mosul have been killed and more than 800,000 forced from their homes and communities. Now the city faces a critical moment as it begins to rebuild: With this level of devastation, hundreds of thousands of displaced families won’t be going home anytime soon.

Mercy Corps is committed to helping people in crisis with resources to meet their urgent needs and build a stronger future. We have operated continuously in Iraq since 2003, providing assistance to 5 million Iraqis affected by war, violence and displacement. Our team in Mosul is on the ground reaching tens of thousands of families with critical household items and emergency cash to buy what they need most.

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