Reaching out from peaceful North Yorkshire to the sick children of Iraq

CHRISTMAS is here. Instead of that extra Chocolate Orange, or that extra pack of fruit jellies – you’ll never eat them anyway – why not buy some medicine for Iraqi children suffering from leukaemia. No, seriously: why not?

We wouldn’t ask, but three years ago, John Hinman, of Swainby, on the edge of the North York Moors, watched the Ten O’Clock News.

There was a report from the Baghdad Central Training Hospital for Children.

You know the sort: ill children, earnest reporter, fills the gap before the football scores. Except Mr Hinman didn’t switch over.

“There was a 14-year-old who had spent seven years suffering – they had no drugs, no sophisticated equipment,” said Mr Hinman, a trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough.

“One of the images that struck me was his mother in this spartan room, with her hand on his chest.

It really struck me.

“I thought I’d write to the Radio Times to see if there were details of any charity that helped.

“I got a phone call from the BBC and it was organised for the hospital to send a list of drugs they needed.

“My wife is a GP and saw the list was very accurate.

“I organised for an appeal to appear in the diocese newsletter.

£30,000 was raised, including £3,000 from this village.

“It paid for the first consignment of paediatric oncology drugs.

“They are hard to come by in Iraq and very expensive.”

And then, thanks to our 21st century wonders, an amazing thing happened.

“Hello everybody,” the email said.

“On behalf of our staff we want to thank Bishop John Crowley, the Catholic community, and everybody else, for their great help to our unit and our hospital in general.

We are looking forward to more inter-relations for the sake of humanity. God will bless you all. Best regards, Dr Jaffar Al-Ghaban, Baghdad Central Training Hospital for Children.”

In total, there have been five consignments, and £110,000-worth of drugs sent.

Parishes have raised funds, individual donations have ranged from £50 to £10,000, and there was even a charity football match at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.

“You had grown men excited about being in the dressing room,” said Mr Hinman.

The first two consignments were sent by the RAF, via Brize Norton and Basra, as, in Iraq’s dark nadir, shipping companies would not enter the country.

Mr Hinman said: “At the time, the drugs came here first, and we stored them in the garage.

“It was strange to think the drugs were leaving this village, then ending up in Baghdad.

“The RAF even returned all the freezer bags, thinking we could reuse them. It was fantastic.”

Now, DHL fly to Baghdad, via Syria or Jordan.

It is indicative of Iraq’s improved security; a fractured state growing slightly stronger each day.

“Things are slowly improving,”

said Mr Hinman. “Certainly there are still problems of infrastructure, electricity supply.

“Obviously there’s a great deal of anxiety. Things are improving, but there’s a long way to go.”

In Iraq, though, improving hardly means safe.

“There was a bomb attack at the hospital about 14 months ago (which injured 12 people and caused £7m-worth of damage),”

said Mr Hinman.

“They lost two-thirds of their bed occupancy. The Spanish government helped them rebuild, but the support is very ad hoc.”

Following the attack, Mr Hinman received another email.

It said: “I wish God to protect you and wish you all your days happy and safe from terrorists and terrorism.

Please pray for my country.

Best regards, Jaffar.”

The human spirit in those 27 words, the selflessness of a warm email typed in hellish conditions, struck Mr Hinman.

He said: “He’s in the middle of a war zone and he wants to wish us safety.

“In another, he wanted us to know he felt embarrassed to ask for help, and I thought ‘We should be embarrassed, not you’.

“Doctors are getting kidnapped and murdered. Half of Iraq’s doctors have left, and 2,200 have been killed.”

While emails bouncing back and forth can make the world seem small, there are constant reminders that, at times, Iraq is a different world.

“Once, Radhwan (assistant director at the British Consul in Iraq) rang from Baghdad,” said Mr Hinman.

“As he was talking, I heard a siren.

“Radhwan said ‘I’ll have to ring you back, there’s a bomb alert’. I just thought ‘How some people have to work’.”

The appeal’s strength is its simplicity.

They raise money, they buy drugs, they send them to Baghdad. Simple.

Every penny raised helps young Iraqis hit by a huge whack of bad luck.

The same cannot be said of major charities.

They’re so big, and so successful, that the money-raising machine needs feeding.

On The Guardian’s job site, for example, – among 768 charity jobs – Friends of the Earth are recruiting a management assistant for £21,540 to £25,140; Save the Children want a product development executive – innovation for £30,138 plus pension; the RNIB want a temporary publishing officer for £30,750-£34,606 pro rata.

All, they would argue, will raise more money than they cost. But it’s nice to give money and be sure where it’s going.

“Everything in this project we control,” said Mr Hinman. “It’s home-grown, there’s no fancy marketing – every penny is spent on the drugs. Money isn’t going into an unknown pot, and people can see the benefit.”

So the diocese keeps raising money, rewarded by grateful emails from distant war zones.

It’s £110,000, and a number of saved lives, and counting. Amazing what grows from a man in Swainby watching the Ten O’Clock News.

Mr Hinman said: “Sometimes you think ‘Do I really want to watch the news today?’ “Now, you watch the images from the Congo and you think ‘Where do you start?’ “Well, you start in your own small way.

“If you can help the Iraqi children, they are their future, and hopefully things will improve.”

For more information on how to donate, contact Mr Hinman on 01642-700075, or email jnhinman@googlemail.com.