In a symbolic initiative, participants in the Dialogue Education and Knowing the Other Camp watered olive and fig trees planted at the House of Coexistence as part of tree-planting campaigns that previously included international figures.
Camp participants from the Dialogue Knights team brought bottles of water from their own cities as an expression of peaceful coexistence, social cohesion, and shared participation. They mixed the water beneath the Iraqi flag and began watering the trees alongside their colleagues from Sinjar and the surrounding communities.
Dr. Mirza Dinnayi, founder of the House of Coexistence and leader of the reforestation campaign in Sinjar, stated that this youth initiative reflects young people’s commitment to a shared national identity despite religious and sectarian differences. Through this program and initiative, they seek to reinforce the concept of strength in diversity as a source of richness for the country.
Participants also learned about the agricultural projects implemented by the House of Coexistence, in cooperation with the Masarat Foundation and KAICIID Arabic, aimed at improving the development of crops for which Sinjar is known, especially figs and olives. The institution also works to empower and employ local labor by training them in modern farming methods to provide sustainable income for farmers. In addition, it carries out campaigns to plant oak and walnut trees on Mount Sinjar to protect the environment and combat desertification and global warming.
The campers also gathered around an olive tree that had been planted during previous reforestation campaigns by Annalena Baerbock, former German Foreign Minister and current President of the United Nations General Assembly, during her visit to Sinjar.
It is worth noting that the “Through Dialogue We Remain and Rise” camp began in Baghdad with the participation of youth from Sinjar, later joined by youth from Baghdad in its first phase. The camp then moved to Basra, where young men and women joined the team, before traveling to Dhi Qar, then to the Nineveh Plain, entering the Old City of Mosul, and now reaching the city of Sinjar and its surrounding areas. The camp will continue its tour to other Iraqi cities as part of a program aimed at promoting dialogue as a mechanism for peacebuilding among followers of different religions and rejecting hate speech.
