News & Events
A Plate for All: 2009 in Review - December 29, 2009
The upcoming New Year marks the end of A Plate for All’s first year of operations. In 2009, A Plate for All completed three rounds of food distribution. Each round served 350 families of Iraqi refugees with about month’s supply of food. These distributions were made possible by the technical and administrative expertise of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, and the time and energy of American, British, and Syrian volunteers in Syria.
Since A Plate for All’s first distribution in April 2009, we have surveyed the Iraqi population in northeastern Syria to evaluate its context-specific needs. Each distribution provides us with a valuable opportunity to talk directly to the people we serve. Surprisingly, not all food-aid organizations ask aid recipients what they want. As we learn more about the field of food aid, we have discovered that two of our central principles—1) the local procurement of food and 2) cultural and situational adjustment—are progressive concepts in the provision of international food aid.
At the third distribution, our British colleague Matt Loffman conducted face-to-face interviews with Iraqis. Regrettably, Matt discovered from these interviews that the need for assistance is still great in these communities. Although the news cycle in America has shifted our focus away from Iraq, the Iraqi refugees in Syria still think about their embattled home every day. Just this morning, a bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, and a string of sectarian assassinations over the weekend left four leaders dead. Many of the Iraqi refugees living in Syria received death threats that prompted them to flee their homes. In the last year, some Iraqis have started to return to Iraq, and tragically, some of those years-old death threats were fulfilled upon their return. These stories haunt the minds of Iraqis living in Syria.
Matt asked everyone he interviewed: “Are your children in school?” Schooling this generation of Iraqis in exile is critical for the future stability of Iraq and the whole region. Unfortunately, more than half of the families Matt surveyed said that their children were not attending school. The parents said that the reasons were primarily the lack of money or health issues.
Food helps. A family with little or no income will buy food before paying for their children to attend school. The family will buy food before paying for the medical care that their child needs. If we provide food for those in need, they can use their limited resources for schooling and medical care for their children, who can then grow up to be productive, educated citizens contributing to a stable and peaceful Middle East.
In our next year, we plan to expand our services and add a nutrition education component. We strive to get Iraqis involved in the aid process. This is a challenge because Iraqis are not legally allowed to work in Syria. We are confident, nonetheless, that we will find some way to engage Iraqis in the process and create a more sustainable project.
Photo by Itab Azzam 2009
July 8, 2009 - A Plate for All's second food distribution serves 350 Iraqi refugee families.
Most of the Iraqis present at our second food distribution were familiar faces, with the exception of a few new families hoping to register for future distributions. GOPA staff took down the names of the new families, promising them that if A Plate for All’s resources expand, they will be able to receive food as well. A Plate for All and GOPA have identified at least 2,000 families in Hassakeh that could benefit from our food distribution. Therefore, we aim to increase the scale of our program model from 350 families to 500 by the October 2009 distribution, which will require a budget increase from $10,000 to $15,000 every three months.
A Plate for All’s focus on delivering basic and nutritious, traditional Iraqi food sets it apart. To ensure that we stay abreast of the food and nutrition needs of the Iraqi community, A Plate for All regularly surveys beneficiaries. When A Plate for All staff handed out an on-site survey during the most recent distribution, a young Iraqi father-of-nine named Ahmed took a form and enthusiastically wrote across it in capital letters “THANK YOU.” According to the findings of a recent survey, Iraqis in Hassakeh are in great need of quality powdered milk, which provides calcium for growing children. A Plate for All thus adapted the contents of its food boxes for the July 8th distribution. Our boxes now contain vegetable oil, olive oil, powdered milk, tuna, bulgur, fava beans, chick peas, and tomato paste.
Thank you for your interest in our work! We would love to hear from you—questions, advice, or ideas—in the coming months. A Plate for All will be conducting fundraising and awareness-raising in the US, and analyzing the results from our most recent survey in Syria in order to further develop our program model. We will keep you up to date as our program progresses.
April 7, 2009 - A Plate for All's first food distribution was a success!
After three months of initial research and planning, six months of fundraising in the US, and three months of on-the-ground coordination with our partner organization, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (GOPA), we have conducted our first round of food distribution, assisting 350 vulnerable Iraqi refugee families in Hassakeh province of northeastern Syria. Our Program Team in Syria—Bridgette Auger, Amelia Reese, Mary Shehadeh (GOPA’s Accountant), and Brian Lowe—left Damascus late Monday night, April 6th, and headed east through the desert and across the Euphrates River to arrive in Hassakeh city by early morning. Throughout the following two days we conducted one distribution assisting 225 families in Hassakeh city and another for 125 families in Qamishli.
A Plate For All fills critical gaps in humanitarian aid. We deliver traditional, locally produced, and nutritious foods that refugees do not receive from other sources and we work in areas that would otherwise lack essential aid mechanisms. Currently, each food package contains the following items: vegetable oil, olive oil, powdered milk, tuna, bulgar, lentils, fava beans, chick peas, and tomato paste.
A Plate for All delivers essential aid. According to the refugee community, next to housing, food is the most pressing need they face. When refugees have food and housing, they are more likely to send their children to school and to maintain good health—both important factors in the region’s potential for future stability. We chose to operate in Hassakeh province in response to several unique hardships facing Iraqi refugees in the area. First, Hassakeh is primarily a farming province, supported largely by its wheat crops; today, however, it continues to suffer a two-year-long drought that has driven up food prices and made it difficult for neighbors or churches to support those in need. Second, although there are around 7,000 Iraqi refugees registered in Hassakeh, there are few services provided for them (unlike Damascus).
In early May, A Plate for All and GOPA will conduct a post-operational survey consisting of interviews with Iraqis and meetings with the Syrian Orthodox Churches in Hassakeh city and Qamishli. Based on the results of this survey, we will refine A Plate for All’s program model to enhance nutritional and demographic targeting—providing the most helpful services for the most needy in the most effective manner possible.