Provide Relief for Syrian Refugees

“My neighbors are like qishda wa aisal,” Um Samer happily told me, using a phrase that literally translates to “cream and honey.”

She was referring to her new neighbors’ collective kindness. After the Syrian family found shelter in an empty home in Azraq, a small town in northeast Jordan, her neighbors filled the kitchen with a stove and all of the pots, pans and dishes that she needs to cook for her family of 13.

Some members of the family escaped the war raging in their hometown of Dara’a, Syria as long ago as July 2012. On the day of our visit, Um Samer was cooking breakfast and celebrating finally having her family all together again — her eldest son, Muhamed, 34, arrived just 15 days earlier after fighting with the Free Syrian Army.

The four-room house is now a home away from home for Um Samer and her husband Abu Samer, their seven children ranging in ages 15-34, and their four granddaughters from 10 years old to as young as five months. I was there, along with Mercy Corps field officer Zeid Shaban, after delivering winter supplies and furnishings to help make the house a safer shelter for the entire family.

Derelict buildings can't protect against coldest winter in decades

Like Samer’s family, thousands of Syrians have resorted to living in derelict buildings for the little, if any, rent they can afford. Damaged roofs, cracked walls, drafty windows and a lack of heat make them incredibly vulnerable to what’s already one of the coldest winters on record in the region.

Mercy Corps is helping this family and thousands of other Syrian refugees and Jordanians in need keep warm, through a winter preparedness program supported by you. In communities where there are few resources, we’re distributing kits that include a gas heater, coupons for fuel, mattresses, blankets, pillows and sets of bedding. We are augmenting our existing efforts to provide vulnerable families with basic necessities by distributing warm jackets & winter boots for babies and children who are particularly vulnerable to the frigid temperatures.

“Everything that Mercy Corps has donated is a great help,” Abu Samer told me. “It reduces the financial burden on us to have to buy these things ourselves. Especially during the winter season, everything is helping us a lot, keeping us warm.”

You have made an incredible difference in the lives of Syrian refugees this year, from providing clean water and warm blankets to creating safe places for young refugees to play. And, there is still time left to make more of an impact this year. You will provide winter coats to children who would otherwise be unprotected from exposure to subzero temperatures and you will help insulate shelters to protect families from harsh winter winds.

On behalf of all the Syrian refugee families who are relying on you to survive this harsh winter - thank you. 

With Gratitude,

Sumaya Agha

Links:

• More on Syrian Refugees' urgent winter needs
• Mercy Corps' lifesaving work with Syrian Refugees