The Children of Iraq

A week ago the chair of our St. Paul's board, Joan, and her husband, Glenn, invited us for supper (it was a wonderful meal!) The "ulterior motive" was to give us the chance to chat with Joan's son Jai, who was home briefly from Iraq. I must admit that I'm not sure of the spelling, but that's the way I hear his name.

Jai works for Unicef and he lives a hunkered-down life in the so-called Green Zone of Baghdad. The UN workers are reasonably secure in this area, but it is hard to imagine living such a protected and isolated existence for any length of time.

Jai is passionate about his work for children whose wellbeing has deteriorated in virtually every category over the past 40 years. During Saddam's Iraq went from being a leader in the Middle East when it came to the wellbeing of children to lagging well behind virtually ever leader nation. Despite the wealth generated by oil they fell behind in education, and access to healthcare, clean water, and sanitation. We might think that the greatest threat to children in the Iraq of 2010 would be violence, but it is in what we consider the basics here in Canada.

Please pray for the safety and the mission of Unicef workers in Iraq. The Iraqi government works in partnership with Unicef, an important first step. Together they will work toward the improvement of conditions in that troubled country.