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Warmth and Light in Syria
Ahmad’s story
Ahmad, his wife and his eight children had been living in a displacement camp for 40 days when we first met them.
Like most families in the camp, they were forced to leave their home in Northern Syria because bombs and shelling left their neighbourhood in ruins.
The journey to the camp wasn’t easy. After fleeing their home with nothing, they found refuge in a nearby village. But thanks to more shelling, within a week they had to move again - this time hiding in a forest. Taking cover under the trees the family lay in the dark unable to sleep from the noise of the bombing, the rain and the cold.
A desperate situation
When Ahmad’s family finally made it to the displacement camp, a kind man gave them a tent constructed of old tarpaulins and blankets roughly secured with a piece of rope.
Although they were grateful for what they had been given, the flimsy shelter couldn’t protect them from the rain and cold, and they had no food other than bread and olives.
Finding hope again
Working in partnership with ReliefAid, we provided Ahmad with the tools he needed to start the process of recovery.
With insulation materials, mattresses, blankets, cooking sets and solar lamps the family can protect themselves from the bitter cold and start to pick up the threads of everyday life.
Recovery doesn’t happen overnight. But the sooner that life starts to resemble normality, not just with physical shelter, but with kitchen utensils that help provide regular family meals and solar lights that illuminate the darkness, the sooner life regains its normal rhythm.
Now we sleep on mattresses and we are warm because of the blankets. The lamps are very useful at night, because the children were afraid of the dark.
Right now 85 million people are displaced around the world by conflict and natural disaster.
That means almost 85 million people without a place to call home. Without hope for the future.
We have to change this. We believe in a world where no family goes without shelter, where no one gets left behind or forgotten.
