Turkish & Iraqi orphans get chance to visit Japan

This is the fourth such international gathering hosted annually by Ashinaga (Daddy Long Legs), a nonprofit scholarship fund that provides psychological and material support to children who have lost their parents to disease, accident or other disasters. The fund, which has helped 65,000 children finish school, has also provided support for orphaned children in nine countries.

This year, children from the United States, Afghanistan, Algeria, Turkey and Uganda will also participate in the program. A total of about 80 orphaned children will stay in camps in Kobe to exchange their experiences and feelings with about 20 children who lost parents in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

This June, Ashinaga dispatched two staff members to Baghdad to study the conditions under which orphaned children live in Iraq. Supported by UNICEF Iraq, as well as Iraq’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Yukichi Okazaki, 34, and Toshihiko Abe, 36, conducted street interviews around war-ravaged areas in the center of the city.

“Every year, children suffering the same grief seize the chance to gain independence by sharing their pain with other orphaned children through the program. I hope this time the gathering will provide some opportunities for Iraqi children to gain hope and courage,” Okazaki said.

The pair met a 10-year-old boy whose father was killed March 26 when an errant U.S. bomb destroyed the garage where he worked repairing cars. The boy, who was near his father, was also injured.

“I still can’t believe my father died,” said the boy.

Another 15-year-old girl’s father was a soldier when the United States invaded Iraq in March. Against the wishes of his family, the man left home after telling his family he would protect the country. His body was found in southern Baghdad in April.

“Even now, hearing the word `soldier’ tortures me,” said the oldest girl in her family.

After it was agreed upon by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the interim authority governed by the United States and Britain, all of the 10 children received permission on July 15 to visit Japan for the international gathering.

“Iraqi children grew up with war and have suffered from war. But children from Afghanistan and Uganda must have suffered even harsher conditions,” said the 28-year-old uncle of a 17 year-old boy who lost his taxi-driver father in another U.S. bombing gone awry. “I hope the international gathering gives the children an opportunity to bond together and gain strength to hang in there.”