A Warm Hand in a Freezing Winter
Numbers and Statistics:
In accordance with the Syrian relief plan issued by OCHA in 2016, provision of shelter and non-food assistance is a priority need for citizens affected by the Syrian Crisis.
The stated numbers reflect a catastrophic situation faced by displaced residents and refugees, as 2.3 million lack shelters and 5.3 million are in need of non-food aid.
Those, whether they are residents or refugees, who lack shelters or live in destroyed buildings or buildings under construction need life support, heating material, and winter essentials.
Implementation Areas:
“Beyaz Eller” has accumulated experience in the provision of heating material to the displaced and refugees through its annual program “A Warm Winter” that enters its fourth year.
This year the organization has initiated its winter program titled “Warm Hand”. It has worked through local teams inside Syria and refugee camps to send assistance to those harmed by the situation. Benefiters in Homs, Dar’a, suburbs of Damascus, the coast, Idlib, and Hama in Syria as well as those in refugee camps in Antakya- Turkey were main targets of this project .
The “Warm Hand” Campaign distributed various winter equipment to help keep the displaced and refugees warm during the dire winter conditions. These included: 9,300 blankets, 3,000 winter jackets, 623 ton of firewood, 832 mattresses, 5,447 heaters, 142,486 litres of heating fuel, 882 pieces of winter clothing, 682 pieces of carpeting, totaling 96,259 persons of those harmed by the Syrian crisis benefitting from the program.
We met a young man who received heating fuel through the program carrying rocket ruble. He stated:
Another old women living in a makeshift shelter with her 5 children whose home was freezing till Beyaz Eller gave her a heater:
“I work gathering rocket ruble and changing it into equipment for generating electricity.” He added he gained some money to buy winter equipment as the winter in his area is merciless.He added that a month ago he was able to buy a heater but had no fuel. He was thankful that now through they received some fuel to keep warm
She said: “I try to heat the house and provide warmth for my children. Every morning we go out searching for any fuel material whether wood or leaves to use as fuel to keep warm in the evening.”
The Need Persists:
The situation in Syria doesn’t show any signs that the war will end shortly, thus we find ourselves responsible for preparing for the coming years in an aim of lessing the suffering of families harmed by the crisis in Syria.