In IS shadow, Sikh NGO helps Yazidis fend off hunger
Vibhor Mohan
Chandigarh:
TNN
Large-hearted Sikhs have taken their traditional community kitchen to one of the most dangerous places on earth today -Syria. Giving a twist to the concept of a langar, a group of Punjabi NRIs has collaborated with locals to provide fresh bread to nearly 14,000 refugees daily on the strife-region for several months now.
As part of the project, Langar Aid which an extension of UK-based NGO Khalsa Aid, is offering the service to distressed people barely 5km from an Islamic State (IS) stronghold. The bakery is located in the Pesh Harbour area, about 35km from the Kurdish city of Duhok and 10km from the Syrian border. Almost 70% of the members of Langar Aid pro gramme are with Punjabi roots, besides some European volunteers as well.
Instead of the classic kitchen, Langar Aid helped set up the bakery because IS fighters were destroying any food aid coming in for the Yazidis. With a local setup, the refugees are continuing to get their staple diet in the middle of the crisis.
While Khalsa Aid provided the machinery and Joint Help for Kurdistan gave a brand new building to house the bakery , the local government in Duhok is providing free power. Bread is the staple diet of the Yazidi people.
UK-based Indy Hothi, a 27year-old economist-cum-volunteer of Indian origin said, “We set up a bakery at a refugee camp for Yazidi people to pro vide a self-sustaining solution.Support in in the form of hot food for distressed people has been there for over a year now and organisations from Sweden is helping run the bakery .Help is also being offered in other areas with refugee crisis, like Serbia and Greece.“
