Aid to Syria

The Syrian war has been going on for five consecutive years. People of Madaya are besieged with hunger that is finally beginning to take its toll. Hunger is being used as a weapon, and people don’t know what to do. One refugee was explaining to the reporter that every time they would hear any news about someone, it would be that the person was too weak to leave their bed since starvation took over them. The video provided by CNN, shows kids eating leaves that have just been boiled in water and mixed with spices. Babies and toddlers yearn and cry for milk. The desperate look of hunger is seen within them. People are saddened by seeing a mother feeding her baby with what looks like being broth but really is jam mixed with water. Many children proclaimed that they haven’t eaten for days and it is quite a scene because their ribs are protruding out.  Lacking food, trees are their only source of food, but that too is slowly diminishing due to the cold seasons.

A small family receives bread from aid services.
A small family receives bread from aid services.

Madaya has become so poor that the price of food in Madaya compared to Damascus has doubled and tripled over time. For example, sugar in Damascus costs $1.32 per kilogram, but in Madaya, it is $200 for the same amount.

According to The Guardian, Louay, a social worker from that town states, “people are dying in slow motion.” His voice was very raspy and it hurt for him to talk due to the lack of full meals. He also mentions that they ate the leaves off of the flowers that they planted, which were really bitter.

The activists in the country shared pictures of young boy being pushed around in a stroller because he was too weak to walk. As people know the current situation of Syria, help is also being sent. From Manila Time, you can get a glimpse of trucks coming in to aid the displaced. Fourty-four trucks are arriving in Madaya and twenty-one of them of the trucks are going to neighboring towns like Fuaa and Kafraya.  The UN said that the amount of food brought in can feed up to 40,000 people and the food supply would last a year.

“I saw a young man killing cats but presenting the meat to members of his family as if it was a rabbit,” says Hiba Abdel Rahman, age 17, to AFP. Many families have no choice but to kill their own pets for their survival. The circumstances have amounted to that.

Families were happy to see that help was coming and that children had smiles on their faces. The peoples’ spirits were uplifted, and each family got sugar, 10 kilograms of rice, hummus, green beans, two cans of tomato paste, six cans of beans and salt. Although this will not last long, families will try to savor what they have. It is an ongoing crisis in trying to bring the best aid. It has become extremely hard to get aid into the country, especially since it is isolated and coming through tunnels and barriers makes it even more hard and expensive.  One of the refugees said, in order to keep us in good shape we need constant food and hygiene’s being sent in, and one to two months of food will not be beneficial.  It is hard to aid Syria but many organizations are doing their level best to help the displaced.

Many Organizations like the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and the United Nations brought in flour, medicine, nutritional material, blankets, and other hygiene supplies, clothing said one of the spokesmen in Syria. Madaya has been besieged with hunger for the past five or so months, and around twenty-eight deaths or more continue to take place due to the deprivation of food.

It’s distressing to see young and old people go through such a bankrupt situation. Hopefully, those affected and displaced will have the ability to get back on their feet and strive for what is ahead of them.