I couldn’t make it to London this morning for the launch of the #DECSyria event.
But I can lend them my blog.
Two years of fighting. One million refugees. Five million people affected. Nearly half of these are children.
The Syria Crisis in numbers is terrifying.
Families are being affected in all manner of ways – mothers are giving birth as they flee the country, fathers are left behind as they protect their homes in Syria, children are cold, scared, living in refugee camps and vulnerable.
For two years, families have been living in fear.
We need to raise awareness of these atrocities and funds to make them stop.
The DEC Syria Crisis Appeal is raising funds to help those most-affected in the region as the fighting intensifies and the number of people fleeing their homes and the country continues to increase.
The DEC brings together 14 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis to help: Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision; all collectively raising money to reach those in need quickly.
The DEC hosted a live digital media event – #DECSyria – on Thursday the 28th of March in London. It united celebrities, bloggers, journalists and aid workers to discuss the latest developments from the region, the people on the ground who are affected and what needs to be done.
But we need your help.
We’re asking bloggers, tweeters and online superstars to add their voice and give a voice to the voiceless at the heart of this crisis – such as for Tasinne and Anisa.
Tasinne’s story
It wasn’t the shelling or bullets that made Ibtisan leave her home with her five children, but the fact that her daughter, Tasinne, has cancer, and couldn’t get any medicine. She’s only eight years old.
“We had been living in constant fear for a year and a half. We were staying in underground shelters and would only leave to get bread. We had to crawl along the streets because it was so dangerous. But when Tasinne started to get sick we took her to a doctor and they told us she had cancer of the kidney. I knew then that we would have to leave. There are no medical facilities available anymore”
Ibtisan was forced to leave her husband behind in Syria, trying to protect their home. She’s now living in Amman, Jordan’s capital, in an apartment that she can’t afford – every penny she gets goes towards Tasinne’s medical care.
“The chemotherapy costs 200 JD (£185) a session. She needs one session a week until July. She has had two sessions, but I don’t know how I will pay for the next one. I want to take her to the doctor but that will cost more money – what can I do?”
When Tasinne is asked what she would like to be when she grows up she simply states:
“A doctor so I can give out free medicine.”
I fled Syria while I was in labour
Anisa, like any new mother, loves to cuddle her ten-month-old baby.
But their smiles cover a story of pain and sadness. Abdul was born at the end of a difficult and traumatic two-day labour. The first day was spent trying to get out of Syria to Lebanon, where Anisa’s
husband Saleem had travelled a few weeks earlier to build a makeshift tent in a temporary camp.
It’s been their home ever since.
‘I love being a Mum, but I worry about my baby getting sick,’ says Anisa, 18. ‘I don’t know how we would take care of him, here in the camp.’
Anisa’s home is a far cry from the big house she lived in with her husband’s family, after their happy wedding day. She now lives under tarpaulins nailed to a wooden frame in Beqaa Valley, Lebanon.
‘It has been very cold this winter, and there has been a lot of snow. We have no heaters or wood to burn fuel. My baby gets so very cold.’
Spiralling out of control
More than three million people who have been forced to flee their homes by the fighting in Syria. One million have fled to neighbouring countries but a further two million are trapped in a country where the health system has collapsed in many areas, water supplies have been disrupted and food is often in short supply.
We mustn’t stand back and think there’s nothing we can do. We can – and we need to act now.
How You Can Help?
1. Check out the hashtag #DECSyria and watch the live-streamed at DEC.org.uk.
2. Donate to the Syria Crisis Appeal and help provide the basics for survival. Visit http://www.dec.org.uk to place a donation, call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or text SUPPORT to 70000 to donate £5. Every little bit helps.
3. Help us make as much noise as possible. Share Tasinne and Anisa’s stories. Share this blog. Post an update on Facebook or Google+. Tweet using the hashtag #DECSyria. Use a banner or a logo. Tell your friends, family, children, neighbours. Anything and everything to help put an end to this catastrophy.
They may be helpless but we’re not. Act today.
Claire toplis says
So an important cause let me know if I can help
Claire toplis says
Let me know if I can put something on my blog.
Jax says
Hi Claire, I’m sure DEC would be thrilled to have you blog for them, will ping my contact on twitter 🙂