- Title: In Mosul, daily wage workers turn to charity amid economic hardship
- Date: 19th August 2021
- Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 11, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) AERIAL VIEW OF OLD CITY OF MOSUL WITH DAMAGED NEIGHBOURHOOD MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 11, 2021) (REUTERS) MAN PICKING UP TRAY WITH FOOD AND SAYING (Arabic): "May God protect you and increase the good on them, always." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE EATING LUNCH SEATED ON THE GROUND MAN DISTRIBUTING PLATES OF FOOD PEOPLE EATING IN FRONT OF THE "DOING GOOD" ASSOCIATION'S CHARITY RESTAURANT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) WORKER, ABU MOHAMMED, SAYING: "I am a worker. When I find work for one day, there is nothing for fifteen days. When I don't work, I come to have breakfast and lunch here. I don't have work. Before I would go home to have lunch and come back (and wait for work). Because I don't have the money to buy food. We are all workers here and God bless them, the restaurant, everyone is here eating." VARIOUS OF WORKER EATING OUTSIDE OF RESTAURANT VARIOUS OF CHARITY WORKERS PREPARING PLATES OF RICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) "DOING GOOD" ASSOCIATION'S HEAD OF KITCHENS, MOHAMMED AL-QADO, SAYING: "This area is considered among the impoverished neighborhoods in Mosul. It is the poorest one in Mosul. They (workers) wait at an area called 'Dawret al-Hamamil', the workers' roundabout. We see with our own eyes that when a car comes (offering work), everyone runs to it, their situation is really bad. In the whole area." RICE AND BREAD ON PLATES PEOPLE SETTING UP PLATES COOK, AHMED SALMAN, STIRRING FOOD IN A LARGE CASSEROLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COOK, AHMED SALMAN, SAYING: "They rely on God and on us. On the two meals that they eat here. Breakfast and lunch. The restaurant in Khazraj serves mostly families, 250 families. The second restaurant in Dawret al-Hamamil serves about 400 workers." PEOPLE QUEUING OUTSIDE OF KHAZRAJ RESTAURANT WITH EMPTY POTS AERIAL OF PEOPLE QUEUING / VIEW OF NEIGHBOURHOOD WITH DAMAGED BUILDINGS (MUTE) AERIAL OF MAN WALKING IN STREET WITH DAMAGED BUILDINGS (MUTE) MAN WALKING IN STREET WITH DAMAGED BUILDINGS AND CARRYING BAGS MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 16, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION AND DAILY WAGE WORKERS WAITING ON THE SIDEWALK FOR A POTENTIAL EMPLOYER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) WORKER, AHMED MAHMOUD EBEID, SAYING: "These days there is little work in the city of Mosul. People (daily wage workers) come here, they find work one or two days a week. But they get tired every day. There are no (construction) projects here, especially on the left bank of the city (where the Old City is located, which was occupied longest by Islamic State). There are no projects, no projects." VARIOUS OF WORKERS WAITING FOR WORK ON THE SIDEWALK
- Embargoed: 2nd September 2021 09:23
- Keywords: Chairty Daily Wage Workers Economic Hardship Food Iraq Mosul
- Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Middle East,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001EQY526T
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Iraqi construction worker Abu Mohammed wakes up and heads to 'Dawret al-Hamamil', a roundabout at where many of Old Mosul's daily-wage workers wait, hoping to find work.
Mohammed's tiring day is made easier when, after finding little to no work, he gets a free meal at the 'Doing Good' restaurant, a local charity feeding families and workers in need at one of Mosul's most impoverished neighborhoods.
Funded by academics, businessmen, and other philanthropists, the local association has several charitable projects in the city, including two restaurants distributing free meals to about 250 families and 400 workers per day.
"When I find work for one day, there is nothing for fifteen days", Abu Mohammed said, adding that on idle days he has no money to buy food at all.
Employment for daily wage construction workers has been scarce in Mosul for many years, workers say.
Many will wait by the sidewalk or at roundabouts, scattered in groups for most of the day, hoping to get chosen by a potential employer for a day's work.
Large parts of Mosul's Old City still lie in ruins after the intense military campaign to defeat Islamic State destroyed swathes of the city, yet workers say there are little to no projects.
"There are no projects, no projects," said worker Ahmed Mahmoud Ebeid.
The difficult economic situation in Mosul, compounded by last year's outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, is still hampering the restoration of infrastructure and livelihoods, four years after the end of the war.
(Production: Kawa Omar, Maher Nazeh, Charlotte Bruneau) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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