- Title: Mosul resident brings city's destroyed homes to life
- Date: 17th December 2019
- Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (DECEMBER 14, 2019) (REUTERS) MOSUL RESIDENT WHO VOLUNTEERS TO RENOVATE CITY'S DESTROYED HOMES, KHALED MUSA, WALKING THROUGH ALLEYWAY MUSA ENTERING HOME HE IS REPAIRING / GREETING RESIDENT SORIYA AHMED AHMED TALKING WHILE SEATED ON FLOOR VARIOUS OF MUSA AND AHMED SPEAKING VARIOUS OF MUSA HAMMERING NAILS INTO WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSUL RESIDENT WHO VOLUNTEERS TO RENOVATE CITY'S DESTROYED HOMES, KHALED MUSA, SAYING: "This idea is a voluntary project, a personal idea of mine in order to help the families whose homes need renovation." MUSA AT WORK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSUL RESIDENT WHO VOLUNTEERS TO RENOVATE CITY'S DESTROYED HOMES, KHALED MUSA, SAYING: "This work is difficult, not as simple as you might think. Especially for the homes here in this area, they are difficult to work with, they're old structures, some may even need to be demolished and rebuilt. But thank God, there have been many families that have been able to stop renting homes and return to their original home. That's the main goal, to enable families to return home." VARIOUS OF MUSA POURING PAINT INTO BUCKET MUSA MIXING PAINT VARIOUS OF MUSA PAINTING WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT WHOSE HOUSE IS BEING RENOVATED BY MUSA, SORIYA AHMED, SAYING: "He came to me and said I will fix your home, I was so happy, I didn't know if this was true. I just wanted (the house) to be fixed. One day he said that he (will renovate the house) and the next day he came here and began working on my house." WOMAN AND CHILD WALKING THROUGH ALLEYWAY MUSA WALKING TOWARDS ANOTHER BUILDING HE IS RENOVATING MUSA ENTERING BUILDING MUSA HOLDING VARIOUS KEYS MUSA TALKING THEN WALKING AWAY MUSA GREETING HOME OWNER, RAED SALEH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT WHOSE HOUSE IS BEING RENOVATED BY MUSA, RAED SALEH, SAYING: "We came to the house and saw that the doors had all fallen off, the house was heavily damaged, no windows, no doors, nothing. Sixty percent of the house was destroyed. Mr. Khaled did a study and afterwards told me he will try his best to fix the house for us." MUSA MIXING PAINT VARIOUS OF MUSA SPRAYING PAINT ON WALLS VARIOUS OF DESTRUCTION IN MOSUL
- Embargoed: 31st December 2019 13:40
- Keywords: Destruction in Mosul Iraq Islamic State Mosul Reconstruction of Mosul War in Iraq
- Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAD536D
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:As mounds of rubble continue to litter the streets of Mosul, one man is making an effort to help rebuild the city, one home at a time.
For over a year, Khaled Musa has been looking for families displaced by the war against Islamic State, and helping them move back into their homes by renovating the buildings.
Islamic State militants took over large swathes of the country in 2014, and were finally defeated by Iraqi and coalition forces in 2017. But the battle left huge devastation in its wake, especially in Mosul and its old city district.
Thousands of families were forced to live in refugee camps, or pay rent in small apartments elsewhere, as rebuilding efforts stalled in their city.
Musa, who works at a government agency during the day, said he has taken over these renovation projects to help as many people as possible return to their homes.
"This work is difficult, not as simple as you might think. Especially for the homes here in this area, they are difficult to work with," he said.
The process is mostly self-funded, and leads the reconstruction effort on his own whenever he has spare time.
When he receives donations, Musa makes sure to hire other locals to help him with the reconstruction, in order to provide some employment for others in the city.
One elderly woman, Soriya Ahmed, said she didn't believe it at first when Musa promised to fix her home. The woman, who had been living with relatives for nearly two years, said she was overjoyed when she finally made it home again.
An average home takes two months of work to complete, and involves a variety of tasks including installing new windows and doors, to painting walls or even rebuilding certain structures.
Musa has helped many families return to their home, and hopes his work can show others that even one person can make a difference.
(Production: Younis Qays, Bushra Shakhshir) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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