The Girls Darashakran Run Club. In 2022, all participated in the Erbil 8K.
Hardly any people outside NGO workers get access to the Darashakran refugee camp, but on Wednesday 23 November, armed with gear from Tracksmith and shoes from Hoka, I, along with my friend and guide, Omer, and photographer, Carlotta, passed through the gates that led to the 12,000 people spread across the Nineveh Plains of central Iraq. We were there to give out running kit and entries to the Erbil marathon which took place two days later on 25 November. By all accounts, the mission was a success, despite the rain. The kids ran the 8K and all finished. Zainab, our camp leader, came in along the top 10. She zoomed ahead of me. I stayed behind with two of her younger pals to snap photos.
Boys in the Darashakran Camp receive kit from Tracksmith to run the Erbil 8K.
Thank you all for your support, especially Tracksmith and Hoka. What started out as a longshot idea, turned into a reality. And this is why we have to keep it going.
There is a school, a medical center and a volleyball court in Darashakran, but not much else — not even a football pitch. The camp lies 40km outside of the Erbil, where some of the moms and dads find work, but many just wait — it's hard to talk about hopes and aspirations for their children beyond the next meal. As the camp manager said directly to me, "I have to worry about getting 12,000 people fed and clothed and sheltered — and right now there is rubbish all over the place — so I don’t have time for thinking about goals and ambitions." He has a point. But if nothing else, running and other sport keeps these kids busy after school and out of trouble. And it gives them the opportunity to leave the camp every now and then, which they LOVE!
Two members of the Darashakran Run Club running in the Erbil Marathon 8K on 25 November 2023.
There is one NGO that brings running to the camps, but only to girls and only with a small number of them. Unless they ate picked for something like this NGO or have the abiliity to go to school and not worry about pitching in with money, these kids’ chances of moving beyond the walls and UNICEF water fakes are slim. Most of these kids know nothing else beyond these walls. In 2003, I coveres the protests against the Iraq war. The American government acted without my consent — and a lot of others’ as well. But i believe that even though my government turned its back, it would be against my values to tiurn mine. I am asking for your help to literally put these kids’ lives on the right track. I draw no salary; all the donations go straight to the club and its activities. In February, the Club is going skiing and snowboarding in Choman, near the border of Iran.
The servants of wealthy aristocrat families spent their Christmas working for their employers. As part of the holiday bonus, the rich showered them with boxes filled with gifts, money, and food leftovers on the day after Christmas, which became the Boxing Day holiday. This year, if you can help the Darashakran Run Club, please do: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/erbil-refugee-run
A glimpse of the Darashakran Refugee Camp at dusk, where children play football with a flat volleyball.