About a year ago today, Josephine was in a meeting with the board members of the Shlama Foundation in their metro-Detroit office. We were discussing a recent addendum released by USAID. It was a funding opportunity for partnership on projects that assist the Nineveh Plain region. Out of all the nonprofit organizations Josephine contacted to apply for this grant, they were the only ones who went through the application process.
They had recently returned from their trip from Iraq. The board members had first-hand perspectives of our people’s state of affairs, especially with one of them living in Iraq post the ISIS-invasion. They were filled with courage, ambition and hungered to help the people back home. We brainstormed ideas for hours on end without eating or drinking anything until the solar idea was fully conceptualized. We got in touch with the solar expert and finally started the proposal.
Fast forward a year later, USAID awarded Shlama Foundation with $1,000,000 to execute their proposed plan in Tesqopa, a village located in the Nineveh Plain region of Iraq. Shlama Foundation has also hired six indigenous local engineers who graduated with STEM degrees, two of whom are female engineers. They have assessed over 100 households, 40 street lights and 13+ farms. Soon there will be 100 homes who have converted to solar power and farms using solar water pumps This project will improve economic stability by improving the yields of farms, increasing safety in the local neighborhoods and providing jobs to local contractors.
Thanks to USAID’s partnership with Shlama Foundation, the livelihoods of the people in Iraq’s Nineveh Plain region is improving. Solar power will improve their quality of life since the region doesn’t have access to the grid for reliable electricity. Their project will also reduce the reliance on dangerous diesel generators, improve the environment, and increase farming sustainability. Josephine is honored and blessed to work with and know these amazing people who are truly devoted to humanitarian service and the evolution of the Nineveh Plain and its future. You can learn more about the Shlama Foundation, you can visit their website here: https://www.shlama.org
USAID/Shlama Foundation Solar Engineers