American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East invites you to join us on Facebook Live to pay our respects to our former Executive Director, Brigadier General David E. Greer. General Greer passed away on July 30th, 2020 in Santa Cruz, California. He was 69 years old. A native of Memphis, David graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery Corps. He served on active duty and in the Tennessee Army National Guard for 36 years, retiring in 2008 as a Brigadier General. After retiring from the Armed Forces, General Greer worked for the State Department with the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team. It was there that he met and married his wife and best friend, Susan. In 2011, the Greers moved back to Maine and retired, but David’s work was not over. In 2012, he was asked to use his talents to head American FRRME, and he served […]
American FRRME- COVID-19 Relief Strategy Update: American FRRME has continued to implement all government-imposed criteria necessary to safely reopen Olive Tree Center. This includes hand sanitizer being mounted on walls, regular cleaning, mask-wearing, regulation of class and center attendance, and social distancing implemented in all classes. Olive Tree Center as a Relief Hub During COVID-19 and Update: Local churches remain open and the masks being produced at the Olive Tree Center are vital in order to enable refugees to go to […]
Three years ago American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East started funding the Harsham Soccer Project to restore the soccer field in the Harsham Internally Displaced People’s Camp in northern Iraq. The soccer field was completed in 2019 and since then at least 250 children play on it every month! Unfortunately, the soccer field has been closed for much of 2020 due to COVID-19. Now the field is back open, the boys are playing soccer again and […]
The past few months have been filled with debate over the reopening of schools and universities. Many schools are adopting a hybrid approach of part-time classes and remote learning and some are entirely remote due to COVID-19. Due to these circumstances, education is not available to all children. Not all families can afford to have a computer, internet access, or a stable home environment to ensure their children are all able to do their schoolwork. These challenges are especially common […]
Updates From Helena Scott at The Olive Tree Center Summer 2020 Online support & learning/development platforms American FRRME continues to provide resume assistance, revision, and immigration assistance to refugees via email and phone. Garden Project This “garden of hope” was created at the Olive Tree Center by refugees, for refugees. Throughout June this Garden was maintained, further cultivated, and really prospered: cucumbers, corn, beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, and tomatoes are now abundant. This garden provides the community with a sense of […]
Ten miles away from an American military base in Syria is Camp Rukban. Here 8,000 refugees are starving […]
With great sadness, we announce the passing of our Executive Director, Brigadier General David E. Greer. General […]
In the past week, President Michel Aoun of Lebanon renewed his call for Syrian refugees to return […]
