Yezidi

The Yezidis have a lot of feast days but today is their biggest one.It was a national holiday and we went for a picnic with an IDP yezidi family. It was so much fun. We drove into the middle of a field and set up camp there- complete with  table and chairs! The children loved making flower garlands and entertaining the little ones. I got sun burnt. They enjoyed hearing stories read to them.

The family talked loads about when they fled IS in 2014. These feast days bring back many memories. It was so humbling being with this family who have been through so much. When IS came to their village their aim was to deceive them into trusting them- "we are your new gov " etc so then they would be able to take more of them captive. The fighters even gave chocolates to their son. When they learnt the truth they immediately fled to the mountain for 10 days in the searing August heat, witnessing people dying all around them. Their relatives are still in captivity. There is so much pain but they are such kind, fun, giving people.