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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Iraqi orphans adapt to life under lockdown

Duration: 01:33s 0 shares 3 views

Iraqi orphans adapt to life under lockdown
Iraqi orphans adapt to life under lockdown

The outbreak has changed the lives of orphans at a Baghdad orphanage.

Not only are they not able to go to school, visits and outdoor activities have been cancelled.

Francis Maguire reports.

These orphans in Iraq would usually get plenty of visitors and outdoor activities to enjoy, But when the country went into lockdown, the doors to the orphanage were shut and the children living there faced a new reality.

15 year-old Younis Mohammed is one of almost 50 orphans who lives in Baghdad's 'Iraqi Safe House for Creativity'.

"The virus is spreading all over the world and we are all scared of the disease.

So we decided to rely on ourselves here.

Some of us have become barbers, cooks, painters or musicians.

Everyday, we take the children to the playing ground so that they don't become depressed.

We are doing everything ourselves." Hisham al-Thahabi is director of the orphanage.

He said he doesn't want to let the children grow bored or sad.

So he has organised different activities to keep them busy.

"We encourage the children to adapt to the situation inside the institution, to have a life, even if they don't go out and if they don't have activities outside the institution.

This is something positive.

There are a lot of families who are struggling right now because their children are not used to staying at home." Decades of war in Iraq have left hundreds of thousands of orphans behind.

The recent war against the Islamic State made the problem worse.

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