Yaqub Batrs Toma (76) is the head of the household and lives with his wife in Iraq. He currently resides in Ninawa, Teleskop and benefited from the IRW-Iraq Ramadan food basket distribution. 

How does he provide for himself and his family in terms of food? He said, “My wife and I live here alone, we are both old, we don’t have the ability to work and we don’t have children to support us, neighbours and charitable people help us.”

Regarding hard times and the effect of food shortages on his family’s life, he stated “We need food too much because we both have medical problems and take medication”, so we have to eat healthy food, but sometimes we have nothing to eat when we have no one to support us.”

Daily Life in Iraq During Ramadan

He found that the month of Ramadan had a significant impact on their lives. He also appreciated the warmth they received from the Muslims from their community and within Islamic Relief.

“We are Christians, but we see that it is a month of goodness and blessing with your help,” he stated.

When asked about the changes and community events during Ramadan, he said, “We spend all our time with my wife at home because we have no place to go.”

He also said, “We are Christians, but we celebrate with our Muslim neighbours, who offer us a dish from their kitchen. 

How Islamic Relief Helps

Regarding the impact of the IRW-Iraq food distribution in his community during Ramadan, he said, “Your support has made everyone happy, and us too, even though we are Christians.” 

Regarding how the Ramadan food package helped his family, he said, “Your food package made us happy because we saw that there is no discrimination between Muslims and Christians and that you support them all equally. 

When asked about how he came to know about IRW-Iraq and how he benefited from other projects he replied, “We knew you from neighbours who told us about your NGO and your great support. 

He was asked how we could improve our Ramadan food packages, to which he replied 

 “I think you are doing humanitarian work because the name of your NGO is Islamic, but you help everyone regardless of religion and nationality, but I hope you will continue this work and not limit yourself to the month of Ramadan.” 

Finally, he thanked the IRW Iraq organisation and wished them success.