Reference :
V-P-IQ-E-01076
Date :
11/09/2011
Caption :
Erbil. Disabled himself, Nafith works at the ICRC physical rehabilitation centre.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC website, Operational Update, 20-10-2011
Iraq: giving disabled people a chance to resume a normal life
Physical and psychological suffering is not the only trauma people living with disabilities have to endure. They often also face economic difficulty. The ICRC provides them with limb-fitting and physical rehabilitation services, and supports those willing to set up small businesses.
Nafith will get married soon. Nothing very unusual for a 32-year-old man living in Erbil, in the North of Iraq, but until recently it was not something Nafith thought would ever happen. Seriously disabled after being injured by a cluster bomb in 2003, Nafith relied mainly on government aid to survive. What he received was not enough for him to consider starting a family. In 2010, however, he began a job as a bench worker at the ICRC's physical rehabilitation centre in Erbil. "My life changed completely," he said. "I now have a salary, which enables me to live like everyone else."
Years of conflict and other violence have left an estimated 150,000 people disabled in Iraq. Some were injured in combat, but most are civilians injured by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and other remnants of war. Nafith lost his lower limbs while picnicking with friends.
Nasrin, a 30-year-old woman, was injured at the age of 10. "I kept asking myself: what have I done, what was my crime? I was only an innocent child," she said. Like Nafith, she had to leave school, and is therefore illiterate. She spends most of her time at home, helping her mother with housework. Even though she still longs to get married and live a "normal" life, Nasrin feels better now that she has been fitted with an artificial limb by the ICRC. "Before, I was limping. Now, nobody realizes I am disabled," she explained. Often, artificial limbs bring people the satisfaction of not looking different.
The ICRC has been providing physical rehabilitation services in Iraq since 1993. It runs its own physical rehabilitation centre (PRC) in Erbil. In addition, through training and equipment donations, it supports the only Iraqi school for prosthetics and orthotics, a workshop that manufactures crutches, 9 PRCs run by the Iraqi Ministry of Health, and one by the Ministry of Defence.The ICRC also provides grants for disabled people heading households to enable them to start small businesses in fields such as agriculture, crafts and trades. The aim is not only to help them care for their families, but also to help restore their dignity by making them feel useful and needed again.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
3648x2736
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
