Voices from Peace Winds Vocational Training: Episode 1
“I always consider learning the most important factor in improving life conditions,” Mr. S.H.K, an enthusiastic participant in Peace Winds’ vocational training course, told our staff.
Since September 2020, Peace Winds has been providing vocational training courses inside and outside Shariya Camp in Shariya Sub District, Duhok Governorate, northern Iraq for internally displaced persons (IDPs)–people who have been forced out of their homes but remain in their country. Participants, including women and youth, can take courses in home maintenance (electricity and plumbing), hairdressing, and leadership, helping them gain skills they can use to find future income-earning opportunities or contribute to the community.
Peace Winds will share voices of the program’s participants in four separate articles. In this first article, you’ll hear from Mr. S.H.K., who participated in the vocational training course for home maintenance.
Mr. S.H.K. lives with his wife, one child, and his father’s family in a tent in Sharya Town, Duhok, Iraq. The S.H.K. family owned a farm in Sinjar, Ninawa province in northern Iraq, but seven years ago, the family was forced to abandon everything and flee when the Islamic State occupied the village. Mr. S.H.K. wanted an opportunity to improve his family’s situation.
“I can’t go back to being a farmer because I’m in the city now, and I don’t own land,” he said.
When Peace Winds began recruiting candidates for vocational training, Mr. S.H.K. registered for a course where he would learn electricity and plumbing repair. He proved to be a highly motivated student and a quick learner, and he worked hard to complete the requirements of the course.
“Soon after completing the vocational training,” Mr. S.H.K. said, “I got the opportunity to work as a day laborer at a local construction company.”
Peace Winds is inspired by the hard work of refugees like Mr. S.H.K. and will continue to support people in need through vocational training activities.
Thank you for supporting refugees and IDPs through Peace Winds’ programs!
To read other articles from the vocational training series, visit https://peacewindsamerica.org/blog/
