A Name for a Future: help the children of Aleppo!

The project that we have been able to develop thanks to your support is aimed at caring for abandoned children and those born to women who have been raped and abused in the last nine years of the war.

These children are part of a society that no one wants to consider and represent a problem which is often hidden to avoid scandal. Most of these children and their mothers live in appalling conditions because they do not receive any assistance from the state. Indeed they cannot be recorded at the registry office because they are considered ‘children of sin’. They are marginalized and are in desperate need of everything: food, water but also and especially psychological recovery and social reintegration.

CONTEXT

Since 2011 Syria has been in the midst of a conflict that has still not ended. Today the internal situation remains unstable and the country is still divided into three areas of control:

1. Area under government control

This area represents 60% of the territory and is the safest, although there are still incursions.

 2. Area under Kurdish control

This area covers 30% of the territory and is controlled by the Kurdish Party (PYD) with the support of several paramilitary militias. Following the withdrawal of part of the US Army, Turkey, supported by anti-Assad militias, occupied part of the territory and established a safe zone. The Kurds, having lost the US support they enjoyed for a number of years, have formed a military alliance with the Syrian government. During the first months of 2020 new clashes took places in the areas of Raqqa and Hasakah. The Turks, for their part, have stationed troops around the city of Afrin and continue to fight against the Syrian Kurds north of the Turkish-Syrian border.

 3. Turkish-Islamic area

This represents 10% of the territory and is the most fragile area. Since November 2019 clashes between government and opposition forces have intensified throughout the area, including the suburbs of Aleppo and Hama. The government is, in fact, determined to regain control of the M4 and M5 motorways linking the three main cities (Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia) and has been attacking the area surrounding Idlib for months. These clashes have had a devastating impact on the more than 3 million people living in this area. From December 2019 to April 2020, more than 800,000 people were displaced in the north-west and are living in very difficult conditions in the outskirts north-east of Aleppo and in the inner areas of the governorate of Idlib.

SITUATION OF THE POPULATION

More than nine years after the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the condition of the Syrian population continues to be very precarious. To date, 11.7 million people are officially in need of humanitarian aid, almost half of them children[1]. There are 6.2 million displaced persons while the number of refugees abroad amounts to 5.6 million. An estimated 69% of the population is living below the poverty line, 6.5 million people are living in conditions of food insecurity, and a further 2.5 million are at risk due to the depletion of productive resources. Rampant unemployment, unstoppable inflation, general price increases and the increasing difficulty of finding formerly easily available products on the market increase the poverty and vulnerability of the Syrian population. In addition to the war, the situation has degenerated as a result of the Caesar Act, the new round of sanctions imposed by the United States. The Syrian lira is losing value precipitously and families are no longer able to meet their basic needs. A head of household now has to work an entire month to buy a couple of kilos of meat. There is a grave risk that what has not been destroyed by the war will be done so by hunger.

COVID-19 EMERGENCY

The situation within the country has inevitably deteriorated in recent months due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of March the first cases were recorded, and in order to prevent this emergency from turning into a real tragedy the government immediately imposed anti-contagion measures: the closure of borders, curfews, self-isolation, closure of schools, restaurants and other non-essential commercial activities. In Syria, in fact, the already fragile health system is in danger of collapsing as there is an extreme shortage of qualified medical personnel and only 40% of hospital facilities are functioning. In addition, to date there is only one laboratory that analyses swab tests and it is estimated that only 325 intensive care units with ventilators are available. In addition to the health emergency, there is deep concern about the socio-economic consequences of this pandemic. Many Syrian families, in fact, survive from daily work in the black economy,  and the Syrian Government is not in a position to introduce policies to reduce the financial burden of these measures. Without any support, the population has become even more impoverished.

To deal with this dramatic situation, Association pro Terra Sancta has increased the distribution of food, medicines and vouchers to cover the medical expenses of specific visits and interventions through the four emergency centres opened in the cities of Aleppo, Damascus, Knaye and Latakia. In particular, following the first Covid cases and the restrictive anti-contagion measures, Pro Terra Sancta undertook to distribute protective equipment along with medicines to guarantee families a minimum level of security. Many families are particularly exposed as they are living in overcrowded residential areas and in terrible sanitary conditions.

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT:

Thanks to your contributions, we were able to continue part of the centre's activities despite the restrictive anti-contagion measures during this period of emergency.

1)    For the majority of children, educational and psychological support activities have continued via remote learning. All children are in fact followed in a path of rehabilitation that includes activities aimed at improving their ability to express themselves and their emotions through dialogues and other appropriate exercises. The staff produced videos and exercises that were sent via WhatsApp to the mothers so as to avoid interrupting the rehabilitation process. In this way we managed to ensure a minimum of continuity in the educational activities, and this was achieved even though Internet access is still very limited for most families. 

 2)    For all mothers and their children, the staff of the two centres launched awareness campaigns for families and children on preventive measures and means of protection against COVID.

 3)    For the children in more serious condition and orphans, activities continued within the two centres. Due to the smaller number of children, on-site activities were able to be continued. In particular, recreational activities were carried out to help the children most in need to improve their communication, relationship, learning, expression and motor skills.

 4)    Given the rapidly worsening socio-economic conditions of many mothers, special food and PPE distributions have been organised for 300 families whose children attend rehabilitation centres, while the clinic set up in the Al-Sha'ar centre,  where free medical check-ups are offered, has remained open.

We still need your help so much to continue to support this project. We still need your help so much to continue to support this project. Please remember these children for next Christmas too.