The first Salvation Army convoy carrying propane cooking gas arrived in Umm Qasr, Iraq, on April 22, 2003. An assessment of humanitarian needs in southern Iraq showed that clean water and cooking fuel were the most desperate needs.

Representatives from the World Food Program (WFP) asked The Salvation Army to provide cooking gas to war-damaged cities in the region. There is a sufficient amount of food in the region, but with no gas to prepare it, the food was of little use to residents.

The gas was a gift, valued at $116,000, negotiated by The Salvation Army with the Kuwait Government and Kuwait National Petroleum Company. It was transported in seven special trucks coordinated and delivered by The Salvation Army. When the trucks arrived, the fuel was unloaded by 30 Iraqi volunteers and stored in a secure warehouse at the Umm Qasr Port Facility.

“After two weeks of negotiations to get the much needed cooking gas, it was an answer to prayer to bring this convoy into the security of the Umm Qasr Port Facility,” said Major Mike Olsen, in-country director of The Salvation Army’s relief program in Iraq.

The distribution of the gas will proceed in partnership with the Save the Children Fund (SCF), who is coordinating the humanitarian effort in the region including the cities of Umm Qasr and Basra. It will provide the people of Umm Qasr with a two month supply of cooking gas.

“The town of Umm Qasr has been out of cooking fuel for over a month. They are starting to cut down the few remaining trees in the area for firewood,” said Jonathan Patrick, operations officer for SCF, Basra, Iraq.

The Salvation Army is negotiating a similar gas convoy to An Nasariya. The Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs (ORHA) has asked The Salvation Army to consider coordinating emergency cooking fuel relief throughout southern Iraq in addition to the other humanitarian initiatives being planned.

A second team of Salvation Army personnel has arrived in Kuwait to assist with The Salvation Army’s expanded service.

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