Displaced Yazidis are returning to their Sinjar area homes and starting over with the help of beehives and flocks of sheep provided by Samaritan’s Purse.
A Samaritan’s Purse staff member teaches proper handling and honey harvesting techniques to bee program recipients.
When ISIS roared through Sinjar, Iraq, in Aug. 2014, they trapped up to 100,000 of the Yazidi people group on Mount Sinjar. Deprived of food and water, many lost their lives in the siege.
ISIS also performed mass executions in this area and enslaved Yazidi girls. In the midst of this terror, the jihadists stole or sold many of the sheep that Yazidis depended on for their livelihood. Other livestock was killed in the fighting.
Over the past four years, many of the Yazidis who survived have lived in tents in displacement camps in other parts of Iraq. ISIS has now been driven out of Sinjar province, but many former residents would rather not return home until they secure means to support themselves.
“Losing their livelihood was a major barrier to returning home, reestablishing life, and overcoming trauma,” explained one Samaritan’s Purse staff member in the region.
To remove that barrier, Samaritan’s Purse is providing flocks of sheep and hives of bees to Yazidis who have experience with animal husbandry. Specifically, we are focused on offering these animals to widows, the disabled, single female heads of households, and those without any other means of income.
Our staff veterinarian provides vaccines for a flock given to one Yazidi widow who lives in a tent on top of Sinjar Mountain.
After being trained on shepherding best practices by our staff veterinarian, families are given 19 sheep and one ram. As the flock grows, the family can keep whatever new lambs are born as well as any milk or wool that is collected. After a certain period of time, the original flock is passed on to a second family.
Similarly, the bee program begins with training from our staff apiarist. Then families are entrusted with seven live beehives. The resulting honey and wax can be sold for valuable income since Sinjar honey is especially known for its quality and purity. In time, families return one of their hives to Samaritan’s Purse so it can be passed along to another family in need.
During each family’s involvement in the program, staff agricultural and ministry teams visit them to help with flock and hive maintenance and to offer emotional and spiritual support.
Through these projects done in Jesus’ Name, Samaritan’s Purse is helping Yazidis return home and rebuild their lives. Please pray that more vulnerable families will experience God’s love through this influential program.
Near Mount Sinjar, flocks of sheep are restoring livelihoods to Yazidi families like this one whose land came under ISIS control in August 2014.
