Iraqi Orphans Under Age 14 Are Targets For Recruiting Terrorists

This article in the Washington Post points to the need for culturally-sensitive curriculum to help combat terrorist recruiters in Iraq. It seems under age 14 are primary recruitment ages. What can be happening in Iraq that children are being targeted? This reminds me of child soldiers in parts of Africa. Children should be children and not take on our adult "sins" in the world. If you want to learn more about what some organizations are doing to help Iraqi orphans and help to combat the recruiters...Read more...

Teddy Bears For Orphans Arrive For Holidays

Just in time to celebrate Eid, Thanksgiving and Christmas, the new Orphan Whispers Teddy Bear has arrived! This year the Orphan Whispers Teddy Bear is white and very, very soft. We could not have picked a cuter and more cuddly bear! Same Orphan Whispers t-shirt, different bear. Same "Hug An Orphan" campaign, different year. Give the gift that gives. Help a child. Purchase a teddy bear today. $50 will get you the teddy bear and help an orphan for a month. What better way to spend this holiday season?

Bittersweet memories of life in Iraq during invasion

I met Laith in his drummer's bedroom. To a frantic beat and the screeching of guitars, he was waving his head frantically back and forth, gyrating and rocking his upper body.  Read more...

JUST 1! CAMPAIGN

"I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."  ~William Penn

Orphan Whispers has started the JUST 1! campaign.  Reflect on the above quote.  What can you do to make a difference in the life of another today?  It takes only one person to make a difference.  Become a fan on facebook today.  Invite a friend to do the same.  Will you be that 1 person to help another get connected with orphans in Iraq?

Iraq's Orphans Battle to Outgrow Abuse

(Reuters) - At night, 11-year-old Salah Abbas Hisham wakes up screaming. Sometimes, in the dark, he silently attacks the boy next to him in a tiny Baghdad orphanage where 33 boys sleep on cots or on the floor.  Read more...

California Raises Money to Provide Clean Water for Children

This is indeed a touching story and it makes all of us in VFP proud of the job our Iraq Water Project team is doing to relieve a small portion of the misery and sickness our policies have brought on to Iraqis.

Clean water is so desperately needed in so many parts of Iraq after nearly 20 years of constant sanctions or war.  VFP is glad our members and supporters allow us to do something about that need.  Read More...

Video of orphans in Iraqi orphanage

Ramadan Iftar Draws Diverse Crowd Concerned Over Iraq's Orphans

As the holy month of Ramadan came to a close, a diverse interfaith crowd in Northern Virginia gathered together to speak up for the voiceless in Iraq.  Read more...

Eid Gifts for Iraqi Orphans and Widows

The Baghdad office of Life for Relief and Development recently concluded a two day project that provided Eid gifts to hundreds of orphaned children and their widowed mothers.  Read more...

Food Arrives Just in Time for One Iraqi Widow and Her Orphans

“It’s a miracle!”  That’s what one Iraqi widow exclaimed as she watched the aid workers from Life for Relief and Development bring food for Ramadan into her home.

Her tears of joy and relief were uncontrollable.  “I swear, there is nothing to eat in this house,” she said.  “I was worrying all day about how I was going to feed my children, and here you come with this food, sent to us from heaven.”  Read more...

Troops Bring Gifts to Summer Camp for Orphans and Special Needs Children in Iraq

U.S. Soldiers here recently donated soccer balls and school supplies to the Baqubah Summer Camp for Kids, a program designed for orphans and special-needs children organized by the Red Crescent, the Middle East’s equivalent of the Red Cross.  Read more...

Iraq: The Republic of Orphans and Widows

They are anxious for a one-way ticket out of a crumbling country-- a dystopia with a shattered social system.  According to a survey by the Johns Hopkins University, more than 655,000 Iraqis were killed in the first four years of war following the US-led invasion of the country. This figure corresponds to three percent of the country's total population.  Other studies have painted a much more horrific picture with an estimated 1.5 million killed and over 2 million wounded. But this is not the whole story.  Read more...

Pentagon Braces for Iraq Wikileaks

The Pentagon has assembled a 120-member team to prepare for the expected publication of some 400,000 Iraq war documents on the Wikileaks website.  The documents are thought to concern battle activity, Iraqi security forces and civilian casualties.  Read more...

Imagine NY, Philadelphia, LA, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix are All Populated with Only Orphans

One in every six Iraqis is an orphan. That is the toll Iraqi children are paying in a country which is supposedly under the occupation and protection of the world’s only superpower.  Not all the orphans are the result of the violence that swept the country in the aftermath of the 2003-U.S. invasion.  Read more...

Multicultural Concert Raises Funds, Awareness for Iraqi Orphans

On Saturday, May 1st, the organizers of Orphan Whispers present their debut event to raise awareness about their work on behalf of orphans in Iraq. The Saadoun Albayati Ensemble, Wael Kakish and members of Kan Zaman, the Unison Interfaith Choir, as well as a children's "blind" choir and kirtan drummers are donating their time, in a dynamic concert to raise funds for Iraqi orphans.  Read more...