Portland-based Mercy Corps is well-received in Iraq, worker says

The Oregonian ^ | 11/23/03 | JEFFREY KOSSEFF

[vladog]

The nonprofit's activities are being well-received by the people in an area south of most of the violence

11/23/03

JEFFREY KOSSEFF

Mercy Corps aid workers in Iraq have survived explosions near their homes and gunshot warnings as they drove between cities.

They know the nation contains Iraqi insurgents eager to stop reconstruction and return control to the Baathists.

They see other nonprofit humanitarian groups pulling out quickly as bombings and violence continue throughout the nation.

But Portland-based Mercy Corps is staying put in southern Iraq, helping communities rebuild their schools, sewage systems and hospitals.

The 25 workers, from the United States and countries other than Iraq, see the threat of violence as real but say most Iraqis have welcomed them.

"The overwhelming majority of interactions with our community have been very, very positive," said Cassandra Nelson, a Mercy Corps employee who arrived in Iraq in April. She phoned The Oregonian during a visit to Baghdad.

"It's a situation where you drive down the roads of communities where we work, and the kids come out and wave."

Mercy Corps is helping redevelop upper-southern Iraq, far from Baghdad, where many of the insurgent bombings and shootings are taking place.

Last month, car bombs exploded outside the International Committee of the Red Cross in Baghdad. Soon after, the aid group said it would temporarily shut its offices there and in Basra.

What worried Mercy Corps even more was the Nov. 12 suicide bombing in the southern Iraq city of Nasiriyah, a couple of hours from where Mercy Corps employees live and work.

"If this does escalate, and we see that spread throughout the south into the areas we're working, then we're going to have to really reconsider," Nelson said. "You have to constantly evaluate the situation and really struggle to balance between the priority of protecting our staff at all times and the tremendous need in the communities for assistance."

Mercy Corps workers try to distance themselves from the coalition forces. Although the nonprofit is administering a $14 million U.S. grant in Iraq, it maintains political neutrality and communicates with troops only about important security issues.

"Coalition forces are the No. 1 targets for the terrorist activities going on here," she said. "Being mistakenly associated with them could significantly put our lives in danger."

The 25 workers hail from many countries, including France, Germany, Jordan and Lebanon. Mercy Corps uses the federal money to hire Iraqi workers for its projects.

Nelson said the group hopes to complete more than 90 projects, including reconstruction of schools and hospitals, by the end of the year.

[dixiechick2000]

We DO have some good things originating from Moscow on the Willamette.

Not many, though.