Help Strengthen the Resilience of Syrian Refugees

Dear Supporter,

Concern Worldwide continues to help Syrian refugees meet their most urgent needs, and we are grateful for your generous support which helps make this work possible. As part of our response to the Syria crisis in Turkey, Concern conducts a protection program covering southeastern Turkey, which supports Syrian refugees residing outside of refugee camps through a Special Needs Fund.

For refugees living outside of camps, it can be difficult to access necessary services due to a lack of information, language barriers, different interpretations of the entitlements made available by various service providers, or the services simply not being available.  Without access to these services, significant issues relating to protection, health, and education are present and growing as the refugee caseload increases. The Special Needs Fund addresses these issues by using e-vouchers or in-kind support to fill in the gaps in services including basic needs (food, clothing, and education), health care assistance (medical equipment, medication, etc.); food; materials (blankets, clothes, household needs, etc.); shelter; transportation (for example, to travel to a hospital in another city); and document translation needed to facilitate access to available services such as legal assistance.

Concerns manages the Special Needs Fund with local partner Bunian Association, which is led by a team of dedicated Syrians. In late December, Concern staff, accompanied by Bunian staff, visited a family who has benefited from the Special Needs Fund project. We learned about their journey from Syria to Turkey, their needs, and their feelings about the support they are receiving.  Here is a report on their visit:

We passed a short archway and climbed up a small narrow staircase to reach the tin door of a house in the center of the city. The area is colloquially referred to as the Syrian section now that the majority of the small homes are occupied by refugee families. Just past the front door, a blanket hung in the entrance of the living room, to protect from chilling breezes passing through the house. Another blanket was also hanging behind the living room door to keep the place where the family spends most of its time more protected from the cold weather. Passing through the door and the blankets, the living room was warm enough, especially closer to the heater in the middle of it.

There are four people in the family: the husband Yahea*, who is disabled, his wife Reem, who wears a bright floral head scarf, and two little children, a young girl, Lama, aged 20 months, jumping in her mother’s arms in a pink winter jumpsuit, and a boy, Ahmad, who is almost four years old and shies away from the attention of visitors.

Yahea began our conversation by first expressing his thanks to Bunian and Concern teams for supporting his family, repeating that this was the first assistance the family received since they arrived in Turkey about four months ago. Continuing the conversation, he tells the story of their journey from Syria to Turkey, saying that they attempted the illegal journey twice by paying smugglers to help them along the way. The first time, the smugglers kept his money and disappeared, leaving him with nothing to show for his efforts. He said there was no choice but to try again, because the option to return home had disappeared, as the area was ridden with violence and there was no insurance of his family’s safety. While the journey ahead was risky, he felt that returning home would be even more dangerous.

After paying the second smuggler,  Yahea said they walked for about three hours with whatever belongings they could carry, with his wife and him taking turns to carry little Lama. Yahea has problems with both of his legs – one was hit by shrapnel during an explosion in his home town, which is still in his leg, and causes him great pain as he walks. His disability posed a huge challenge, and he was completely exhausted during the journey. He typically uses a crutch but during the journey he had to throw away the crutch so he could help his wife carry the children.

The family finally reached the city center of their new home in Turkey. They were very tired and were almost out of money. Yahea recounts walking around the streets of his new home looking for signs in Arabic to lead him to an organization that could possibly help his family. This is how he came to the Bunian small medical clinic for persons affected with war injuries. Bunian staff took Yahea to a Turkish hospital, where an appointment was given to him for a surgery for one of his legs.

After the surgery, the Bunian team contacted the family and came for an assessment at their home, inquiring about the family’s circumstances to determine how they could assist them through Concern’s Special Needs Fund. “Of course we needed many things but priorities were for food and a heater. I cannot work due to my injuries so my wife is the only worker in the family – she is a house cleaner for a Turkish family and receives 300 Turkish Lira per month (approximately 100 US dollars), which is mainly being used to pay for rent and other bills. We are not able to save any money to be able to afford a heater or even to provide enough food to our children. We didn’t even have a stove or gas to cook food.” Through the Special Needs Fund, Bunian was able to provide a heater, wood, stove, gas and a food basket containing one months’ worth of nutritious items, meeting the family’s most pressing needs.

During our visit, Concern staff asked Reem about her current job. A bit embarrassed, Reem said “I’m working as a cleaner for a Turkish family, and I’m taking care of the elderly grandmother.” Yahea said that while Reem is away during the day, he takes care of the children, which can be quite challenging given his disability.

In response to this conversation, Concern gave the family information and contacts relating to Concern’s ongoing livelihoods programming in the area, which provides technical vocational training and helps trainees find jobs within the community. Both Yahea and Reem now plan to participate and build their skills in search of well-paying and secure jobs. Thanks in part to your contributions, the family can look forward to the possibility of a safe, new life in Turkey where they can provide for their children and look towards the future.

*All names have been changed to protect the privacy and security of people.