Help Strengthen the Resilience of Syrian Refugees

Dear supporter,

As always, many thanks for your continued support. Today, I would like to share the story of a family who had to flee from their home in Syria and are now living safely in Lebanon and availing themselves of services provided by Concern.

It was the very real terror that faced Syrian farmer Ahmed*, his pregnant wife and their five children, who were all sleeping peacefully in their house in a usually quiet village that fateful day.

“I woke up at 5am. I could hear the bombing and gunfire. It was very close,” recalled the 38-year-old, who did not want his name revealed or his face pictured for security reasons.

“I woke everyone up and left the house and haven’t been back since.”

Ahmed* said they used their family car, threw some bags of clothes in it and then drove non-stop “from village to village” trying to find a safe place away from the conflict.

Ahmed* was in tears as he described the hardship that he, his family and many other refugees went through as they sought safety while travelling through their country – and the very real fear of death that they felt.

“Sometimes adults didn’t eat so that we could feed our children. There was a lack of bread. We once had a normal home, a peaceful life, and then this became our reality.”

Ahmed* also recalled losing many other people close to him as they too tried to flee the violence that has plagued Syria. “I lost cousins and many friends. One of my cousins was shot while trying to leave his village with my uncle,” he said with a deep sigh of despair.

He said they heard that many people were fleeing to Lebanon, where many Syrians had previously worked just over its northern border, and that they felt safe there.

“Just before the border we were told that another car would be waiting for us to take us to Lebanon,” said Ahmed*. “We were scared and covered in dust. A pick-up truck came and took us down this mountainous road. We hoped we would reach safety.”

Ahmed* and his family made it uninjured into neighboring Lebanon and his wife has since given birth to their sixth child. They were provided with accommodation in one of the many settlements dotted across northern Lebanon where aid agencies like Concern Worldwide provide a number of crucial services, such as water, tents and latrines, and supports to Syrian refugees.

Ahmed* said he still fears for his children’s future, but hopes that they can all one day return to their home.

“If I know the situation is better and that it is safe, I will go back,” he said. “We would prefer to go back to our home. We had three bedrooms, a kitchen and a salon. It’s my home.

“Here [in Lebanon] we have had a lot of help, but I miss my house, my village, the people.”

Concern Worldwide launched its response in Lebanon in May 2013 and has become a key humanitarian player in its northern region of Akkar, which is the country’s poorest area where it shares a long border with Syria.

Ahmed* described what has happened in his country in recent years as a “great tragedy.”

“My children need safety, education, to be healthy. I think about it, but I try to continue on and stay positive,” he said.

*name changed for security purposes

Dear supporter,

As the Syrian war continues into its eight year, Syria Country Director John Kilkenny reflects on all that the Syrian people have endured:

"Over seven years have passed since anti-government demonstrations in the city of Deraa marked the beginning of what would soon be recognized as the Syrian civil war. Looking forward, we see no apparent end in sight to the suffering faced by the civilian population of Syria who continue to be the greatest victims of this brutal conflict.

Despite this, it is an important moment to reflect on the resilience of these same people who continue to eke out their existence against the physical, mental, and emotional challenges they face every day. While the pictures of Syrian refugees arriving on the shores of Europe and in neighboring countries may be the strongest international images we see, it is worth remembering that the largest number of those displaced — more than six million — continue to remain inside Syria itself, some of them trapped in situations that look like medieval sieges, just with the addition of 21^st century weapons.

We talk a lot about resilience in the humanitarian aid world these days — the human ability to bounce back from the most tremendous obstacles. We see this every day in our work in Syria, whether it is the thousands of families who have been recently displaced whose most immediate needs are food and water, or those seeking to maintain their dignity and rebuild lives in camps, or among the host communities that have become their refuge. Our job is to be on hand to help in this process, to provide whatever we can to help people maintain that human dignity: whether through the distribution of food baskets, providing water and sanitation services for those newly displaced, distributing agricultural vouchers to buy seeds and tools, or training them with skills so they can earn a living and feed their own family. 

This is the strange dichotomy we work with in Syria: where people’s needs can vary dramatically according to their particular circumstances, and where, despite the suffering and displacement they have faced, they continue to strive to find a degree of normalcy for themselves and their family. As in so many conflicts, it is the women and children that are often the most vulnerable, and suffer the most. However, working with the women of Syria we have seen the greatest impact for a family at the household level.

There is no doubt that the only solution to the crisis in Syria is a comprehensive, inclusive, political one — but while the search for that continues, we must remember that the Syrian people want the same as most of us: a peaceful, dignified life in which they can achieve their aspirations. The challenges they face in trying to achieve this however, are massively greater than our own. So what can we in the international community do? We can press our own governments to support the search for a political solution to the crisis, and provide the direct assistance to the people of Syria so they can search for their individual futures despite the terrible and immediate challenges they face."

As always, thank you for your generous support, which is allowing us to provide relief to the Syrian people as they do the best to live their lives in abnormal circumstances.