September 26, 2021
Stories
Caritas Czech Republic is providing immediate and stabilization aid for vulnerable communities in Mosul District, of Ninewa governorate. We support the farmers with trainings and giving them small grants to help them stand on their own two feet again. Matte is one of the farmers in Ninewa that we supported.
Matte and the challenges he faced
Matte Khader Shamoun is a 45-year-old farmer and lives with his family which has 5 members. He was born in Mosul and now resides in Bahzani. Matte studied primary school but could not continue his studies because his father needed help on their family farm. Since he was 11 years old, Matte started farming and taking care of animals.
Although he later worked in the construction sector for years, he didn’t really enjoy working in this profession and constantly desired to return to agriculture and animal husbandry. Also, because he specialized in the cultivation and breeding of white birds.
After returning to farming, Matte faced many challenges, as the first problem was the lack of financial support. His farm didn’t have external fences or security cameras, so he faced theft many times. The other everyday challenges were lack of water, lack of electricity, and diseases affecting his plants. After all of these challenges, his farm was completely destroyed by ISIS. All the crops, olive trees, and other trees were burnt, the fence was damaged, and they stole all the farming tools and equipment.
Caritas offered assistance
Matte heard through the church in his village that an organization called Caritas Czech Republic is providing training for the farmers, so he applied to receive the training. He has now completed the training, and learned a lot of helpful information and modern farming methods such as combating diseases that affect the plants and trees.
After the training, Matte received a grant from Caritas Czech Republic that helped him purchase the agriculture inputs to start working again and raise his living standards.
These grants helped many farmers because the region depends on agriculture, especially olives for making pickled olive (Turshi), soap, olive oil, and other products.
Now Matte plans to do several projects, including olive seedlings and breeding chickens and sheep. And also, to open a large agriculture nursery shop to meet the needs of the region.
“I want to thank Caritas Czech Republic and the staff working in this organization, as they were the reason for my return to the agriculture and animal husbandry work. My knowledge and experience have improved, and the grant helped me to stand on my own two feet again,” said Matte.
“My message for anyone reading this is that if you can imagine something, you can make it a reality. The real competition is always between you and you.”
This project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (MOFA) and implemented by Caritas Czech Republic in Iraq.
