Northern Syria was subjected to a devastating earthquake, considered the most violent in more than a century, and caused major damage to buildings and infrastructure, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and serious injury to others, in addition to thousands of families who no longer have a home to live in after their homes were destroyed or damaged. As a result of that incident, the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe doubled in northern Syria, which had been and is still suffering from the war and displacement for nearly 13 consecutive years.
“Karim,”[i] a man in his forties, married and a father of three children, lives a life full of challenges in the village of Azmarin in the Salqin countryside. Karim’s dedication to securing a living for his family and children is evident through his work as a cleaner in Salqin, to which he is forced to travel daily in order to provide his family with basic necessities and achieve a decent life for them.
On that difficult day, Karim recalls his memories with pain, saying:
“My house was silent, like all the houses in the village. During my deep slumber, I felt a tremor creeping through the walls of the house. I thought they were just threads from a dream, but it soon became clear to me that the ground was shaking at an accelerated rate. I quickly rushed toward my young children, screaming In the name of my wife, we had to get out quickly, and sleep was shifting in my children’s eyes, and when we went out into the open area, heavy rain was falling above us and the ground was shaking violently beneath our feet, and fear, terror, and screaming spread throughout the place as if it would continue forever.”
With tears filling his eyes and in a hoarse voice, “Karim” says:
“We returned home after sunrise. It was difficult for me to stop my tears when I saw the devastation that had befallen my home. The ground narrowed for me and there was no longer a place for me to go with my family. The only question I was thinking about was how I could restore the sparkle of life to my family during this disaster.”
“Karim” is one of the beneficiaries of the “Sukna 2” project implemented by Takaful Al Sham Organization in the Salqin countryside area, with funding from OCHA. The project aims to support the people whose homes were damaged by the earthquake by providing them with financial assistance through which they can rehabilitate their damaged homes, and during the project period. Takaful Al Sham engineering teams follow up on the restoration operations to ensure that the work is conducted correctly and safely.
“Karim” tells us how he benefited from the “Sukna 2” project, saying:
“A while ago, the engineering team of the Takaful Al Sham Organization visited my house to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of it. Then the good news arrived that I had been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of the project. I received the first financial payment, and we began the journey of restoring our house. Then we received the rest of the payments. Every day brought us new moments of joy and gratitude, as things gradually began to improve. The moments of restoration represented a new reality for us, as our dream that we dreamed of yesterday was being fulfilled today, thanks to God.”
The “Sukna 2” project had a great positive impact on Karim’s life after it restored hope to his family and children. In this regard, he says:
“Today, I can be proud that I have succeeded in completely restoration my home, and the smile has returned to adorn the faces of my family. Thank God, our home is now ready to receive us, and we look forward to settling in it with the onset of winter. This experience is not just a restoration of buildings, but rather a building of our dreams and hope for a better future for me and my family.”
Karim concludes his story by saying:
“My only wish is to restore my children’s dreams by compensating them for all the moments of fear and distraction they experienced and to be able to provide for all their needs.”
[i] The name was changed according to the protection principles
