Christian charity to begin reconstruction of first 100 homes in Nineveh Plains

A committee funded by a Christian charity is set to begin the reconstruction of the first 100 homes that were devastated by the Islamic State in the Nineveh Plains in Iraq.

Assyrian Christians who fled from their ancestral homelands across the Nineveh Plains are looking forward to rebuilding their villages now that ISIS forces have mostly been driven out of the region.

An "Olive Tree Ceremony" is expected to be held on Monday in the villages of Bartella, Karamlesh and Qaraqosh to inaugurate the rebuilding project.

The project was spearheaded by an organization called Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC), which received funding from the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Father Andrzej Halemba, the acting chairman of the NRC, said that the ceremony is a "historic and unrepeatable occasion for the future of Christianity in Iraq."

"By starting work on these first three reconstruction sites, we are hoping to send a clear signal to the thousands of Christian families who were driven from their homes on the Plains of Nineveh and who are now living in makeshift conditions in Erbil and other towns of Iraqi Kurdistan," said Halemba.

The project, which aims to rebuild an estimated 12,000 homes, is expected to cost over US$250 million. ACN has already provided 450,000 Euros (US$493,000) to fund the reconstruction program.

The construction of the first 100 homes is expected to be completed by the end of summer, according to Fox News.

"One hundred is not a large number compared to the many thousands that will eventually be worked on, but it's a very significant number," said Joop Koopman of ACN. "It's a concrete sign that this community is on its way to being rebuilt," Koopman added.

A survey conducted by ACN has indicated that as many as 41 percent of the displaced Christian families are eager to return to their homes in the Nineveh Plains. In November 2016, a similar survey revealed that only 3.3 percent of the families said they would seriously consider returning to their villages.

The Nineveh Protection Units, along with the Iraqi Special Forces, have recently liberated the villages of Bashiqa, Bartella, Karamlesh, Qaraqosh and Tellisqof from ISIS, but most of the infrastructure in the said villages has been reduced to rubble. Some have become polluted because they have been used as dumping grounds for dangerous chemical compounds.

Since 2014, ACN has been providing emergency aid including food for around 12,000 displaced families who fled to Erbil from their homes in Mosul and other towns and villages in the Nineveh Plains.

Halemba urged Christians in the West to pray for the Iraqi Christians who have decided to stay in Iraq and return to their hometowns.