Back to school shopping

First time back to school shopping!

There are so many days we wish you could be here with us. This was definitely one of those days!

You provided the funds for these children, displaced by ISIS and out of school for more than a year, to get the supplies they need to go back to school. 

We got the joy of holding their hands so we could all stay together in the crowded bazaar. We got to help the girls make the agonizing choice of which uniform dress and white hair ties to buy. And we got to nudge the boys, who shuffled stacks of notebooks endlessly, to choose between favourite colours and characters.

We had to share the joy with you! If wonder what back-to-school shopping in Iraq looks like, keep scrolling.

Choosing vests for the boys' uniforms.

It's hard to choose white hair bands and hair ties when there are so many other sparkly choices!

Hard to choose backpacks with so many choices!

Helping Iraqi children displaced by ISIS choose backpacks.

Spiderman!

choosing notebooks.

The bazaar was crowded with shoppers the day we took displaced children to choose school supplies.

In a stationary store in the bazaar, choosing pencils and pens for back-to-school.

Shop keeper checking his addition for the receipt.

Shopping for shoes can be a little visually overwhelming!

This shop keeper was himself a refugee from Iran. He gave us a great price on shoes for the children.

Happy but tired after a day of back to school shopping.

It was a special day for the children. They rarely get to choose new things to buy, and the volume of products at the bazaar– displayed floor to ceiling–was a little overwhelming! The children were very tired by the time we piled into the car for the ride home. But they couldn’t stop looking at their new supplies—packing and repacking everything into their new backpacks.

The difference you are making here—it is real! You are changing the lives of boys and girls who can really use someone in their corner. Thank you.