The KCF was established to provide or assist in the relief of suffering among the Kurdish people, particularly (but not exclusively) to refugees and their dependents who are in conditions of need, hardship or distress.
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Children: To provide for or assist children living in difficult conditions - particularly street children, working children and orphans.
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Women: To assist young mothers and widows with children by assisting them with housing, education, health-care and training skills so they can become self-sufficient.
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General: We are involved in child sponsorship, education, health and child protection.
Essentially these stemmed from the rush to do something to help in a desperate situation during the Kurdish oppression in 1993. As the group's founders campaigned and fund-raised in London, the fledgling group established close links with a Kurdish group in Kurdistan that was already active in providing rudimentary relief for children.
At the first meeting of representatives from both groups it was agreed they would work together under the title of Kurdistan Save the Children (KSC). We, in the UK, then applied for formal Charity Status and were advised to register instead as the Kurdistan Children's Fund to avoid confusion with the long established Save the Children Fund (UK). We agreed, but unfortunately it was too late to change the name in Kurdistan. This is why we operate under one logo but two separate names.
A Board of Trustee runs KCF/KSC and we also have a management committee and loyal band of volunteers.
KURDISTAN CHILDRENS FUND
The ever increasing Kurdish population in the diaspora has been something that we have not wished to exclude from KSC’s activities. Approached by the Kurdish Community in the UK, we are now responsible for the running of 5 Kurdish supplementary schools across the UK- teaching a total 260 children.
Our school is open to any family that wishes their child, aged 5-16, to learn Kurdish without any discrimination on the basis of nationality, religion or politics.
The subjects taught are: Kurdish alphabet and grammar, Kurdish literacy for year 2,3,4 and 5 /Kurdish grammar for year 5and 6, history of the Kurds and Kurdistan, the geography of Kurdistan, some basic mathematics, Kurdish culture, songs and art. All our source texts have come from Iraqi Kurdistan and they are the books which are currently used in schools in Kurdistan. There is no teaching of religion or politics to the students.
UK Schools 2013
Courses for Parents
The parents also benefit from this project, In Goezha School this year by offering different course subjects aimed at parents, namely, employment, computer skills and language. It has been suggested that seminars are organised on subjects relating to their children such as explanation of the primary and secondary system in UK. It has also been suggested that provisions be made for a counsellor to help those families who may have a particular problem and need advice. These suggestions will be implemented in the next provisional year.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE DIASPORA