How you can help Syrian refugees fighting freezing temperatures for survival

Call it Christmas goodwill, charity or zakat; Syrian refugees in countries like Lebanon and Jordan need any and all such gestures coming from residents in the UAE.

Several initiatives are being currently held, all with the same message: we need to help Syrian refugees to get through the winter. Anything else is a luxury, Sajed Ismael sadly commented.

Sajed is one of the organisers at Flea for Charity, which in turn works in coordination with the Red Crescent. Their aim is to send a first big shipment of winter accessories to a refugee camp in Za’atri, in the north of Jordan.

Warm winter clothes such as jackets, sweaters, shawls, socks, boots, and gloves as well as blankets or anything else that would protect from the cold winter nights are accepted.

“It is just very cold there right now. It is snowing, and the temperatures are low. Refugees in the camp sometimes have close to nothing; some of them do not even have matrasses to sleep on. Although it is logistically difficult to send mattresses, anything that keeps them warm can help.”

According to reports, over 2 million people have fled Syria since a devastating war has tarnished the country for more than two continuous years. In search for a safer place, many of the refugees have ended up in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, host countries of an already swelling refugee population.

The situation in many of these refugee camps being far from desirable, the winter cold has only worsened the living conditions. Rain, snow and cold wind currents have plagued the region during the past weeks. In some cases, only a tent shields off the refugees from the severe weather conditions.

“People tend to think they know what is going on, but it is in fact difficult to realise. In the news, we read and see what is happening on the frontline. But little do we know about the daily life in a refugee camp,” says Sajed.

With half a million refugees living in the camp in Za’atri, this is the largest refugee camp, said Sajed. But similar conditions are facing the refugees who settled in the snow-stricken Bekka Valley, in the north of Lebanon.

“Snow and torrential rains are adding to the misery of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees living in refugee camps across the Middle East. Storm Alexa pounded Lebanon and northern Syria on Wednesday and Thursday, toppling tents and flooding many of the refugee camps. Clowns Who Care, the charity-wing of Dubomedy is coordinating with charity organisation Action Care to send a first load of winter equipment to the area next week.

“Storm Alexa pounded Lebanon and northern Syria last Wednesday and Thursday, toppling tents and flooding many of the refugee camps. We will be working with Family Care Lebanon, who has been working in Lebanon for 15 or more years to bring winter jackets, boots and blankets to refugees in the Bekkaa Valley, wrote Action Care on its Facebook page.

Beside winter equipment, cash donations are welcome too. “Every Dh30 will provide a child with a winter jacket,” wrote Action Care, adding that payments can be made in cash or though Paypal.

Last week the organisation held a similar drive to send winter items to refugee camps in Jordan. “We volunteered to collect the items. I was not able to count all we collected, but it was a lot,” says Ayesha Fernandes, Events Coordinator at Dubomedy.

At least a couple of trucks have been loaded on the Flea for Charity front too, but there is never enough to send, said Sajed. “We do not have a clear number of what is needed, refugees keep on coming in every day.

Also, the months January and February will be equally cold.”

Both organisations pledge to send their collections to the destination areas continuously; however, there are set dates and times for each delivery. This Sunday is a deadline for both initiatives, as the load will be sent on Monday.

We will have a packaging day this Saturday and another one on Monday. We also require volunteers, boxes, tapes, scissors, and markers for packaging all the donations, explained Sajad.

Fifteen collection points have been made available for the Flea for Charity drive. For the Action Care drive, volunteers are asked to drop off contributions in Jumeirah Lake Towers, Lakeview Tower Cluster B at the front desk. For further information, call 050 9273621.

For people who want to make money donations, call the following phone numbers:

Red Crescent, Mohammad Kamal: 050 4254433
Action Care: 050 1537567
Links to the Facebook Pages:
Flea for Charity: www.facebook.com
Action Care: www.facebook.com