The fires of the Syrian war affected many areas of northern Syria for more than 10 years, and thousands of people were forced to flee their cities and villages in search of safety, leaving behind their homes, possessions, and memories, heading into the unknown on a journey of unknown duration.
Amal*[i] was living a safe, stable, and happy life with her husband and children, but the war turned their lives into a tragedy in an unexpected moment.
Amal tells us the story of her displacement with her husband and nine children due to the bombing and the scenes of horror they experienced in the city of Aleppo. She says:
“After the aircraft bombed our house and we lost all our possessions, we were forced to flee to Marsawa to live in my husband’s family’s house, us and 25 other people.
One of the most difficult situations was seeing our neighbors in Aleppo burning alive in their house, which was directly hit by bombing. These were days of horror that I do not like to remember.”
Amal’s family experienced all the hardships and challenges of displacement, which is summed up by starting a new life in a new place. Some of its children migrated outside Syria in search of a place where they could build their future. As a result of the harsh conditions, Amal suffered from several diseases such as diabetes, rapid heartbeat, and frequent fainting cases, and with all of these tragedies, but the greatest calamity was when her husband fell ill with liver disease and was transferred between several hospitals for treatment until the doctors told her that there was no hope of his recovery. The tragedy occurred as he died within a very short period of time from the beginning of the disease. Amal says, crying:
“My back was broken. My husband was the family’s shield and we lost security after losing him.”
The hardships of life doubled for Amal after the death of her husband. One of her daughters was forced to work on agricultural lands to provide part of the basics of daily life, but there remain other basic requirements that the family cannot provide, such as meat and medicine, due to their high prices, especially considering the extreme high prices.
Takaful Al Sham Charity Organization, in cooperation with its partners, seeks to support the most vulnerable families in northern Syria through various projects and interventions. Amal’s family has benefited from the activity of supporting the construction of home gardens within the “Nema 2” project, and in this regard, it says:
“We benefited greatly from the various agricultural equipment, especially the irrigation network, as well as the seedlings that we received and planted. We now eat the vegetables we grow, and this saves us part of our daily expenses.”
Amal is still struggling to overcome life’s hardships and build a better tomorrow, and her dreams still come to her every day in the hope that they will come true one day. She says:
“I hope that my children who traveled outside Syria will return, and we will meet together again. I also dream that we and all people will return to our homes one day and live there in safety and peace.”
[i] The name was changed according to protection principles.
