Published: 16 August 2013 11:13 CET

By Vivian Tou’meh, Syrian Arab Red Crescent

Stranded, anxious and sick, the people we meet accept their current situation and yet have enough strength to continue their lives. Men of all ages, women and children wait inside the polyclinic, which was the first stage of our journey in Jaramana city.

This polyclinic offers a range of services — including internal, gynaecology, paediatrics, ophthalmology and a dental clinic — in addition to laboratory and x-ray services. The ophthalmologist tells us that around 20 people visit this clinic on a daily basis.

Life-saving medicines

During our visit, we meet 74-year-old Alia Mustafa. Along with with her 58-year-old daughter who suffers from partial paralysis, she managed to survive the clashes that took place in her neighbourhood of Deir Ezzor for more than 14 months. Now, they are living here in Jaramana in Rural Damascus in a house that a friend of the family is letting them use.

Alia visits the polyclinic regularly as she is suffering from anaemia and recently had a stroke. She has enough medicine and says, “Thanks to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, I was provided with treatment and medicines for free. They also gave me a food parcel in the other centre.”

A man called Mohammad al-Mahmoud approaches me. He was living in Maskanah when his house was destroyed. He fled the violence in Maskanah and spent 12 days living in a camp on the airport road in the suburbs of Damascus. Fighting there forced him to flee again, this time to Jaramana. Mohammad and his 14 sons and 16 grandchildren are living in an unfinished building. He says, “We have been there for 40 days and we have no place to go.”

Mahmoud is at the the polyclinic to get treatment for ischaemia and is carrying the aspirin and blood pressure medication he needs — all of which were free from the Red Crescent.

To overcome the shortage in medicines and medical supplies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) provided medicines for free for displaced Syrians in the 11 polyclinics that it supervises in cooperation with Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The polyclinics are spread across the country in al-Qamishli, al-Hasakeh, Dweilaa, Homs, Palmyra, al-Boukamal, Daraa, Manbj and al-Othman polyclinic in Damascus.

Providing food and shelter

Displaced people find their resources and savings are rapidly depleted. Many don’t have access to basic services and many live in conditions of extreme poverty.

We head to a kitchen, which is supervised by a community relief committee in Jaramana and supported by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The Red Crescent provides this kitchen with food parcels based on the number of families who are living in the shelter. It houses around 50 families, around 350 people. Other items, such as gasoline, vegetables and meat, are bought with community donations.

The relief committee consists of 40 people who have all carried out disaster and first-aid training courses at the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Volunteers from the committee — together with some of the shelter’s residents — cook on a daily basis for displaced people who are living inside the shelter. During the holy month of Ramadan, they are also preparing some drinks and salads in addition to the main dish.

More help is needed

At the busiest Red Crescent centre where relief items are being distributed, men and women are queuing up to receive their aid. Some are able to manage, others are not.

In addition to losing their land and homes, people have been forced to search for a new source of income. Sabhaa Ibrahim al-Khalaf, is a mother of ten, who fled from Mohassan area in Deir Ezzor and, until recently, made a living from selling bread as a way of boosting their income. Together with her husband and ten children, Sabhaa lives in a factory in al-Mlehah in the suburbs of Damascus.

She approached me for a help and said: “Please help me to get blankets and mattresses we need them… winter is coming. We do not have a source of income. We came here to get the food parcels, which we get usually each three months. Of course, we thank you, but this aid is not enough we are 12 people,” she laments.

The humanitarian needs in this country are huge and Sabhaa is not an ususual case. More humanitarian supplies and support are greatly needed.

Living the moment

Then we visit the shelter of al-Malaab al-baladi. Despite being full of displaced people who have lost everything, it is full of life and vibrancy. Some people are resting, others are sipping tea and chatting.

Amani, a small 12-year-old girl, is looking after her siblings, helping to wash the dishes and clean the floor. Her mother is peeling the potatoes in the kitchen. Amani is just one of many children living inside the shelter.

The children gather around with smiles on their faces. They are living the moment and, for the moment, they are happy just to be together and playing.

Originally published at https://www.ifrc.org.

By Vivian Tou’meh, Syrian Arab Red Crescent

As I enter the main emergency response centre in the Rural Damascus branch of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the room is teeming with volunteers dressed in red overalls all marked with Syrian Arab Red Crescent emblems. All are trained volunteers. Some are taking phone calls, others are staring at computer screens showing the roads they can follow if they need to attend urgent cases, others are relaxing.

We met with first-aid responders, who are working 24/7 to carry out life-saving humanitarian work for their country. They respond to anyone who calls their emergency number from within the Rural Damascus area.

A simple message: please respect the emblems

Yamen Dawarah joined the Syrian Arab Red Crescent three years ago. During the last explosion in Jaramana in July, his leg was injured. He had been driving an ambulance and transferring injured people to hospital.

Despite this, he describes his willingness to do more. “Of course yes, I will continue helping people. If we don’t help, then who will? Particularly with the harsh conditions our people are facing every day.

“We are working in the humanitarian field and my family encourages me to continue helping people — and they are proud of that.”

His message is a simple one: “We Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers ask all Syrian people to understand and facilitate our humanitarian work. We ask all Syrians to respect the emblems.”

Like Yamen, Shareef al-Masri, joined the Syrian Arab Red Crescent since two ago. He has completed a course in first-aid training and advanced first-aid training. For him, it is all about the positive effects that volunteering has had on him as an individual and on their communities.

“We have to continue this work, it is the time to give our best,” he reflects. “Sometimes, a smile on a child’s face is enough to forget all the tiredness from the whole day.”

More than a willingness to volunteer

Majd Nasr, a volunteer with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for the past eight years, has been working in the first-aid team at the Rural Damascus branch for two and a half years, approximately when the Rural Damascus branch started its first-aid operations.

Talking about his motivation, he explains, “We must remain online to provide assistance to needy people and to new volunteers. Volunteers who have been trained by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and have the expertise must stay and teach new volunteers on how to deliver services in the right way.

“I chose voluntary work. It is the first objective in my life and now is not the right time to leave. Voluntary work in our society used to oscillate between presence and absence, rejection and acceptance.

“Now it’s different. Since the crisis began, enthusiastic and serious young people like Yamen, Majd and Shareef are living proof that there is now a newfound willingness for volunteering and for humanitarian work. Actually, it’s not just a willingness, it’s a desire to put it into practice.”

Fulfilling their mission with dedication

We get ready to leave the first-aid centre and to visit the relief distribution centre when an urgent message comes through: a mortar shelling on the fifth bridge on the airport road and there are injuries. They speed away in two ambulances to attend to the casualties.

It’s now evening at the main emergency centre of the Red Crescent’s Damascus branch in al-Zahera and emergency response volunteers are preparing the Iftar meals (the last meal of Ramadan). The urgent message comes through about the explosion in Jaramana.

The volunteers drive off with two ambulances to support their colleagues in Rural Damascus branch who are at the scene already. On this occasion, 25 injured people are transferred to hospital and the Red Crescent mobile health unit provides first aid where the bomb went off.

This is the life of a volunteer with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent during the current crisis, even during holy month of Ramadan. We reflect on their dedication as we watch them hurriedly leave the dining table and their Iftar meal to fulfil their humanitarian mission.

Originally published at https://www.ifrc.org.

Published: 31 May 2013 13:29 CET

By Viviane Tou’meh

In addition to the basic need for food, shelter and clothing, many Syrians are also having to deal with the loss of relatives and exposure to violence and displacement — a direct result of the conflict that has been raging in the country for the past two years. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been working with the Danish Red Cross to meet the psychosocial needs of those affected by the conflict, helping them to deal with the problems of daily life.

Between 12 and 15 May, the Danish Red Cross and 21 volunteers — from the Red Crescent’s branches and sub-branches in al-Nashabia, Jaramana, al-Tal, al-Kisweh, Douma, al-Quneitra — joined volunteers from the Red Crescent’s psychosocial centre in Duwaila and mobile teams in Jaramana for a training course on psychosocial support.

George Jbaili, a volunteer from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s sub-branch in Yabroud who followed the course, said its benefits were clear. “Ways of practising structured games with children and the rules of dealing with them during these games are the main benefit of this training,” he said. “The psychosocial support service strengthens our relationships with the community, and this encourages us to do more.”

Jbaili said that many volunteers had forged strong bonds with the children that they work with.

“One day we asked the children to write: ‘I love Dad, I love Mum and I love the Syrian Arab Red Crescent’. I was astonished when one of those children wrote that sentence and then added at the end: ‘I love George from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.’ At that moment, I decided to develop my skills and psychosocial support became an aspiration.”

The training had a number of objectives. Hisham Hijaz, the technical supervisor on the project, explained: “We strive to qualify and train volunteers and enable them to understand the means of the psychosocial support concept and principles of conduct as a support volunteer. The skills needed, among others, are effective communication, psychological first aid and how to deal with people in ways that are appropriate to their age group. We also talk to volunteers about how to deal with loss and feelings of sadness.”

The project has undergone many changes since its inception. Iyad Safaya, a specialist volunteer in psychosocial support, said: “This project was initially aimed at Iraqi refugees who left their country and came to Syria. At that time, they had no problem with feeling safe, but during the current situation, volunteers are a part of the community and this could be significant for them, especially when they work in the mobile squads in different areas and districts.”

Hijaz concluded that the team had achieved great results during this course. “We have qualified new teams of volunteers to be able to respond to psychological needs, and such courses support those volunteers and enable them to cope with their own daily problems. As those volunteers are a part of the community, they are affected like others in the current circumstances.”

Originally Published at https://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/middle-east-and-north-africa/syria/psychosocial-training-encourages-syrian-arab-red-crescent-volunteers-62334/

Published: 16 August 2013 13:25 CET

By Vivian Tou’meh, Syrian Arab Red Crescent

Whilst we are at the distribution centre, we are met by a man whom we know simply as Kareem’s father. He invites us to his house.

Kareem Jabour was a Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer who joined the Red Crescent in 2008. He lost his life eight months ago in Jaramana, while he was trying to move people injured in car bomb to hospital.

As his father tears stream, so do his warm words of welcome and greeting. Inside the house, there are photos of Kareem everywhere. I almost have the feeling that Kareem is there with us.

Kareem’s father looks at our photographer, Ibrahim, and says: “When I see you, I see my son. My son was always talking about you and he was always saying: ‘Ibrahim’s camera is following me everywhere I go’.”

He remembers the day of the fatal explosion and how his son Kareem went to help the injured. His friend Rami also followed him to the site of the explosion. Sadly, both died. It was a shock, a very hard shock for the families. Kareem was the only son in his.

A close family friend offers his own perspective: “The volunteers are not carrying weapons, they are carrying their lives, and they carry their own lives to save the lives of others. The work of the Red Crescent volunteers is known to everyone in this area, and is respected by everyone.”

Kareem’s father adds his own anecdote of how he has observed volunteers carrying out their work with such high levels of professionalism. Two days ago, his sister broke her hand and he approached the Syrian Arab Red Crescent emergency centre for help. He has nothing but admiration for their work, saying, “I am a doctor, and I watched how they did their job so professionally.”

Despite all the fears, worries and difficulties facing the work of a volunteer in this crisis, the work is widely encouraged and supported. It has become a visible phenomenon among the young people of Syria. Kareem’s father explains how the good reputation of volunteers and the work they do is encouraging other young people to join the Red Crescent to volunteer.

We are suddenly interrupted by the thud of a shell going off. Our colleague Somar receives a message. It’s a mortar shelling in the neighbourhood of Karm Smadi in Jaramana — no injuries, thankfully.

We continue talking to Kareem’s mother. She recalls a day when he came to the house and suddenly started to fill bottles with water, putting them in the refrigerator. “Mum, people do not have cold water to drink.” He was taking the refreshing cold water to displaced people in the shelter near their house.

This was typical of Kareem. We leave his house feeling grateful to have shared our memories with those of his family, whose voices are often unheard.

Originally published at https://www.ifrc.org.

Published: 19 August 2014 16:41 CET

“The drought will place further strain on communities who have already largely exhausted their resources. With low levels of income, purchasing power decreases and so does the standard of living”, says Ali Diab, a water engineer from SARC’s Deir Ezzor branch. “This year’s seasonal drought is expected to be the worst since years, bringing further strain to farmers, affecting harvests and food prices.”

The drought in Syria is not a new problem. The country has suffered the effects of an ongoing drought since mid-2006. In 2007, Syria’s north-east region suffered from the worst drought to hit the country in four decades. Moreover, the conflict has compounded the situation, creating additional issues especially for agriculture.

Farmers affected by the conflict, who struggle to reach their fields and feed their livestock, are already vulnerable due to previous droughts. The harsh 2007–2008 season, widely considered the worst drought in 40 years, was followed by another dry season in 2008–2009. This third consecutive year of drought had a heavy impact on farming communities in the north-east of the country in particular.

Syria is self-sufficient in its wheat production. Farmers in the north-eastern area have seen their income drop by 90 percent over the three years of 2007, 2008 and 2009, while many medium and small-scale herders lost more than 80 percent of their flocks due to lack of pasture and fodder. Unfortunately, a lack of investment and appeal funding during this period has left agricultural communities in a very weak state.

With the continuous drought phenomenon, the rainfall rates decreased and water resources as well. Desertification in Syria has grown by 6.4% since 1970. The cumulative rainfall registered in the period between September 2013 and February 2014 is less than half of the long-term average.

“Rainfall decreased to half during the drought season from 2006 to 2010, which was a serious indicator of securing potable water for the population. This had also a considerable impact on the reduction of renewable ground and surface water resources,” said Ahmad Mayen al-Ali, a SARC water engineer.

“During the 2007–2008, the rainfall average failed to reach 66% of the long-term average; this was a catastrophic impact on agricultural production. The wheat production was 2.1 million tons compared to the long-term average of 4.7 million. This forced Syria to import wheat for the first time since 15 years,” added Mayen.

Experts expect that Syria has the worst harvested wheat crop since 40 years because of the conflict and drought, pointing out that the wheat crop will be reduced to less than 1 million tons or at the best 1.7 million tons.

A two-fold crisis

Today, in addition to the challenges of the drought, farmers are facing additional problems due to the conflict. “The crisis hindered the delivery of seed production supplies such as fuel, pesticides, fertilizer materials and spare parts. Also, storage centers, grain silos and mills were damaged or stolen during the crisis,” said Mayen.

Between 2006 and 2013, 60% of the Syrian territory experienced the worst long-term drought and the bigger reduction of agricultural crops since thousands of years. The drought in Syria this year is expected to cause an 18% reduction in wheat and 65% decrease in barley production.

Plans need to be put in place immediately. Mr. Diab has worries about the situation which includes: “The continuous decline of water levels in Euphrates river, the continuous cut of the Khabour River, the continuous irrational use of ground water.”

SARC response

“The SARC’s response to the drought in partnership with the ICRC practically lasted from 2009 to 2012 to provide emergency aid and to further strengthen highly vulnerable communities in rural Deir Ezzor and Hasakeh.”, says Feras Farras, Water and Sanitation project coordinator.

During that time, the SARC teams focused on many activities such as: “providing water via water trucking in villages that lack potable water in northern Deir Ezzor and Southern Hasakeh. The number of beneficiaries from each water truck was 20,000 people. “Water harvesting activities included: rainfall groundwater gathering, rain and flood water gathering, in addition to Water Desalination projects. These efforts helped secure potable water from the Sulphur wells.”

This experience back then qualifies SARC volunteers to respond to the current drought-related crisis.

“SARC’s water and sanitation volunteers gained the right experience that enables them today to formulate the emergency and intermediate intervention plan to reduce the drought’s effects” said Mayen.

“SARC worked on securing the delivery of potable water via water trucks to villages that lack water resources, storing rain water in large containers for both drinking and watering livestock in areas which suffer lack of renewable water resources. Additionally, the SARC worked to draw the attention of international organizations to help in the efforts to counter the effects of the drought.”

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has supported SARC volunteers capacity together with other Movement partners such as the British Red Cross which had a Disaster Response training program for the past ten years training SARC volunteers in Disaster management, assessment, and water and sanitation projects.

The SARC’s water and sanitation department is supported by the ICRC. Additional support comes from the IFRC, the German Red Cross, the Norwegian Red Cross, UNICEF, PU and HELP.

Originally published at https://www.ifrc.org.

Published: 12 September 2013 10:00 CET

Choosing the right words and body language to use in a critical situation are highly important to first aiders. These skills, along with standard first-aid training, were being taught to Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers at a workshop in Damascus recently.

Since the beginning of the civil unrest, Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have been going to the field in the most troubled spots to help those injured by the violence.

As part of efforts to strengthen their capacities, first-aid trainers from Syrian Arab Red Crescent branches organized a seven-day training course in August, the ‘training of trainers’. A total of 32 first aiders from across Syria took part in the workshop, which was supported by the Danish Red Cross through ECHO funding.

“This training course was carried out with the aim to expand first-aid service capabilities, and to address the urgent need for first-aid trainers in all our branches across the country,” says Razan Jaradeh, head the Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s central first aid committee. “First aid is the most vital service we offer, especially in the current circumstances,” she added.

Saadeh Zeino, a first-aid trainer at the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, says: “The volunteers were taught many skills, for example, verbal and non-verbal communication, first-aid training techniques and how to take an advantage of them, how to plan and organize a first-aid training course, and how to deal with the challenges and difficulties first-aid trainers could face.”

Volunteer Farah Farras says, “We are in urgent need of paramedics and a first-aid trainer in the Deir Ezzor branch on a daily basis, 24 hours a day. In these hard times and in emergencies, we depend on volunteers who have followed a basic first-aid course, even if they do not have expertise in advanced first aid.”

When asked whether she will be able to undertake the first-aid trainer assignment in her branch, she says, “I am waiting impatiently for next Thursday, when we will receive the final results, then I’ll be ready to train my colleagues on first aid in the Deir Ezzor branch.”

The new graduates have already spent at least a year as volunteers in first-aid teams, and have followed both the basic first-aid training course and the advanced first-aid course. They will soon be able to start training first aiders themselves, in their own branch, after successfully passing the training of trainers test.

All volunteers at the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are committed to the seven principles of the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, as well as helping provide the emergency services that are needed in the area.

Originally published at https://www.ifrc.org.

Approximately 18 km south of Damascus city, there is another story to be told. It is a story of success; one about woman who have adapted her livelihood to save her children.

Um Abdul Wahhab, 43 years-old, a mother of three boys and two twin girls. Um Abdul Wahhaab used to live together with her husband and five children in Sayyida Zeinab south of Damascus. In the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Um Abdul Wahhaab moved together with her husband and five children to al-Maliha city in Eastern Ghouta. In search of safety, the family moved to al-Dukhaniyah neighborhood about 7km from Damascus city located in eastern Damascus between Ain Tarma controlled with opposition and Jaramana city which is controlled by government forces.

While more and more Syrians are losing their homes, jobs, beloved ones, and more decided to leave the country and look for better opportunities abroad, still there are more Syrians awaiting an uncertain future inside the country. Particularly those displaced who are struggling to survive and continuing to cope.

In September 2014, intensifies fighting stepped up in al_Dukhaniya forcing its resident to flee to neighbouring areas.

“Within one hour, we bundled up our possessions for a short drive to have safety in Kahn Dannoun shelter near Kisweh city”, Um Abdul Wahaab explains: “al-Dukhaniya has suffered much, as has most of Syria from the continuing conflict and the devastating loss of stability from the terrorist acts.”

Back about the old days, Um Ubdul Wahaab syas: “We used to have a car, a house”, “My husband used to work as a tailor in Damascus”, she continues: “Doctor requested him to stop working since he has a physical problem in his leg but he still go to Damascus and try to find a job to feed our children”.

After becoming displaced, Um Ubdul Wahaab started to adapt the new lifestyle. “Grief, hopelessness have become common emotions, as have compassion and solidarity among all of us in the shelter”, she continues: “These conditions along with an uncertain future and a constant state of insecurity put great stress on families and greatly impacted our life and we together started to find new solutions”.

“I tried to find a way to help my husband and enable some income for our family”, said Um Abdul Wahab, sitting with her oldest son on a mattress in the room they used to live in inside the shelter. In front of her exist the belongings her family has accumulated over the past few months of being displaced from her home in al-Dukhaniyaeh: mattresses, plastic bags stuffed with clothing, cooking pots and pans.

“I had a small amount around 18,000 Syrian Pounds. I and another woman from inside the shelter decided to build a kiosk in order to sell goods to people who are living here”. She says.

Relatively, the shelter is far away from the al-Kisweh city which put another challenge for the shelter residents where they have to walk for three kilometers to buy their daily needs. “We brought goods and materials that residents are in need on a daily basis where it is hard for them to buy it because the market is a bit far for the shelter and they have no transpiration to go there and buy it”.

Um Abdul Wahhaab is not alone, also her eldest son is helping her with her new job, she says: “My youngest son Ahmad is helping me now with bringing the goods from a near market in Kisweh city.

“In this kiosk, they can buy spices, eggs, slippers, cigarettes, washing powder, ..etc”, she continues: ““In the future, I will buy a refrigerator, I will make dry yogurt and sell it to the residents here”.

Together with her colleague, Um Abdul Wahhaab introduced her project to al-Nada society and they appreciated the idea and approved to support the two women with 100,000SYP for each of them so they can buy more products and grow their business.

Like most shelters now accommodating Syrians forced from their homes by fighting, temporary shelters were initially designed as a transit shelters to provide only temporary housing. But as the crisis in Syria in its fifth year with no political or military solution in sight, aid agencies are being forced to seek longer-term humanitarian solutions for the more than 7.6 million displaced by violence across the country.

Inside the shelter, water is in short supply, electricity is intermittent and the sanitation systems are inadequate. To ease the strain, UNHCR and its partners are working to improve the atmosphere inside shelters with better-equipped facilities and moreover, is helping internally displaced people with small business grants.

​“I feel good now, I feel other residents in the shelter appreciate this project and encourage us to improve the services we provide through this kiosk”, she explains that she has found a new kind of love and closeness others.