5/4/13 - Killis, azzaz camp, hospital A day in Syria Day 2 - [Part 1/3]

Border line...

9:00am

Plan for the day was to cross the border into Syria, meet with the Camp manager of azzaz camp there then make our way to Rai hospital to see the everyday reality of the humanitarian crisis.

We began the day with a briefing with Mohammad Sarmidi who was manager of Gazientep Refugee Camp. He gave us a an incredibly vast picture of the Syrian struggle from someone who has been dealing with the crisis for a long time. His main points were as follows:

1. The Morale: The morale amongst the people has been slowly dropping over time. This is due to a number of factors including the fact that the atrocities have been ongoing for a very long time, longer than any of the other revolutions and because of the lack of help from other countires, and the support of the regime from russia and iran and also due to their dire medical and health needs.

He said the Syrians themselves at the moment fall into 3 groups:

i. Those who are with and support the regime. These are 20% of the people.

ii. Those who are with the revolution. These are 20% of the people.
iii. Those who are neutral or indifferent and don't show support to ever side. Their main concern is security and welfare of themselves and their families. These speople were initially pro revolution but as the conflict prolonged they became more and more sceptical.


2. Humanitarian Crisis: The humanitarian crisis is at the worst it has been throughout the whole revolution. There around 200 people killed and around 400 injuries every day. These are just the figures we know about, there are many more who have been detained that we do not know about. For example recently 200 people were detained and later found in a river. 60% of the country has been freed from Assad but they do not even have the basic essentials of life. There has been no practicable solution yet to stop the attacks.

3. Refugee crisis: There is a huge refugee crisis. There are nearly 200,000 refugees in turkey alone and recently Turkey has stopped the influx of refugees as the number of people has simply been too much. All of the existing camps are over subscribed and have lack of tents essentials. Of all the countries Turkey has been the most receptive and helpful.

4. Psychological issues: As with many atrocities there have been devastating psychological effects upon the people and especially children. Alongside the medical aid there is a large need for specialists and psychologists to attend to the affected people .

We learnt how the regime use tactics like bombing a school or a bakery then when the people gather around the hospital they shell the hospital. And we were also given a Briefing about what to expect in the day.. But really this briefing was not enough for what we were about to see..

We set off bright and and early towards the Turkish / Syria border. As we arrived we drove past Killis Baba el salama. Killis is one of the large camps inside turkey and was set up only following the influx of refugees. It's is a huge camp with its own masjid and is very well built and maintained, we could see large trucks unloading flour and aid and the camp itself was clean. There was a huge minaret rising from the centre of the camp and as we arrived we heared the azaan ringing out. It it wasn't for the barricade topped with barbed wire that surroundedne camp, you wouldn't have thought it was a refugee camp.

As we came closer to the border we were greeted by a huge turkey flag which was side by side with a free Syria flag. Both swaying in the wind, showing solidarity and strength. It was a reassuring sign for what we were about to see... With a bismillah and after going through the necessary formalities, we took our first step into Syria...


Part 2 to follow... www.ateeqsalik.wordpress.com

Day1 Refugee Camp and Hospital visit in Suburb of Aleppo

It's nearly 2 am and we'll be on the move again in a few hours to make it to our destination for Day 2. It was definitely an intense day; too much to digest. We spent part of our day at Azzaz Camp, an enclosed area full of small tents. Six months ago when the region had first come under the control of the free Syrian army, it was turned into a refugee camp were there were only 3,000 people. The same place is now home to 12,000 refugees who need everything from food, clean water, sanitation, shelter and medical aid. The area Azzaz has been loosing an average number of 170 martyrs everyday for the last six months, said Hamza at the Azzaz Press Office as we walked through entrance of the camp.
"With the increasing shelling and bombing across the region, the Turkish camps and hospitals can no longer receive more refugees and injured people," said Hossam manager of Azzaz Camp.
Here, food and clean water are always continuous needs but the most pressing need is medical aid, relayed Hossam.
Now with the weather becoming warmer as the summer draws nearer Syrian refugee camps face the threat of many contagious diseases spreading across. Already Leischmenia, a disease caused by unhygienic conditions is spreading rapidly throughout the camps due to unsanitary conditions, a lack of sewage systems and the piling up of disposed material.
The second most pressing issue is a lack of capacity to receive more refugees whose numbers are continuously on the rise everyday. Although the Turks are currently building a new camp just next door, it won't be ready for another month. In the meantime, thousands of people are being turned away and sent back into the middle of the war zone because camps like Azzaz haven't any tents to house more families.
While food, water and medical aid are such immediate needs it was really heartbreaking to see hundreds of kids who will loose out on their lives and futures while receiving no sort of education for two years now.
"We've transformed four tents into schools where 400 of the 7000 children under the age of 15 at the camp attend classes for primary and secondary levels of education," said Hossam.
But children in Syria really have so much more to think about than education. They suffer severe trauma after the experiences they've been through and most of the children are in no mental condition to receive any education.
"We find it very difficult to keep the children coming to the camp school, they really need lots of rehabilitation, treatment and therapy to overcome the horrific experiences they've lived before their minds can start to receive and accept learning," explained Hossam.

We moved quickly to visit a Hospital that received at least three emergencies during our visit. The medical team is from Egypt and they have dedicated themselves to helping the victims of this horrific violence.
The hospital was mostly children, five of which had come in 5 days ago after their school in Aleppo had been targeted and bombed. five-year old Mohamed, 3 year old Dingar and 9 year old Radwan all suffer severe head injuries and blows to their backs, legs or skeletons. they are doomed to live a future as paralysed people, if they have a chance at one at all. The school bombing in the suburbs of Aleppo is not a first; it left 42 children dead and 100 injured.

The most memorable children at the hospital were Diaa, an 11 year old girl who suffered a head and leg injury and would later share our car on a painful journey in search of a CT scan; Sultan, a 5 year old boy who lost his mother, two brothers as well as his right leg and his whole genital and urinary system; and the beautiful 13 year old Khadija who smiled from ear to ear as she told us of her journey to the market which ended in her being left paralysed waist down.
"I want to be a teacher when I grow up..and when I do I won't take any money for teaching children," she said to us.

These three children need medical attention which requires lots of funding to reconstruct Sultans urinary system and provide him an artificial limb, to provide Khadija with specialist physiotherapy to allow her to walk again and to provide the strong and patient Diaa the medical attention she needs to get back onto her feet so that she and her mother can rejoin her 9 siblings and father suffering from cancer in Aleppo once again.

On our way to Kilis

We are currently on the drive from Gaziantep to The town of Kilis. Before leaving we got briefed by the Head of Gaziantep Office of the Syrian Organisation for Humanitarian Relief and Development Mohamed Sarminy
"There are 200 martyrs and 400 people injured everyday across Syria," he began.
"The way that this information is gathered is through an organised system that is used to collect and document the number of deaths, names and causes of death on a regular basis; our information and stats are credible and documented," he added.
With the increasing number of refugees coming into highly populated regions everyday, there is an increasing threat of spreading diseases.
"Leishmania, a contagious disease caused by unhygienic conditions is rapidly spreading throughout camps. Healthcare and medical aid is therefore a serious need."
Because no area is safe, there is a continuous increase in the number of internally and externally displaced refugees.
Turkey alone hosts 186000 refugees in its camps and
30000 indifferent cities across the country. There are 1 million refugees on the borderline from Hassaki to Latakia, according to Sarminy.

"It is Important to realise that even the areas that arent direct frontlines, still not safe; shelling us everywhere which increases number of refugees everyday," he said as we headed towards the van.

Out of the window I can see a different landscape developing; I see dry arid land peppered with olive trees for as far as my sight can can take me.

I can't really imagine what to expect but I it will definitely be intense from what we've been told so far.

Left as four, now 15 @Gaziantep

Gaziantep is very different to Istanbul; it has a more rural feel to it. Although we arrived after dark and haven't had a chance to see much of the city, our journey from the big city of Istanbul to the simpler surroundings of Antep, paved the way for the onset of our real journey into a land caught up in suffering and crisis.
Setting off from Manchester we were only four..now we are 15: six members from North America, three from Morocco and two from Turkey. Tomorrow we will be setting off towards Kilis, one of Turkish- Syrian border lines and a gateway into Aleppo. It will be a two to three hour drive before we get there. Several refugee camps are located in this area on both Turkish and Syrian sides of the border. Kilis Camp in Turkey and Azzazi Camp and a hospital in Syria are our three main destinations for tomorrow. We've been told there's a stark difference to be seen between the refugee camps on the Turkish side compared to the Syrian; like a five-star hotel and a ghetto neighbourhood.
Simple clothing, no sunglasses, stick with the group, don't discuss sensitive topics were among several guidelines we'd been briefed on during a short meeting to prepare for Day 1.
It's time for some rest before the real journey begins..

The Journey Begins

Team UK @Manchester Airport              6.38 am

AbouBakr, Ateeq, Hannah and I are sitting at the gate waiting for boarding to begin..

All of us are very sleepy, barely caught an hour of rest while rushing all night to get everything prepared.

But it definitely feels surreal that this is happening. We don't know what to expect but we'll be keeping you posted regularly. It will be a whole day of travelling before we reach Gaziantep tonight. Our fisrt stop is Munich. Follow us on #destinationsyria and @HumanAppeal.

First International Youth Initiative in Solidarity with Syria

Over 50 youths from thirteen countries across the world, have come together to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Syria on April 25th. A team from among the youths will arrive on April 4th to document and assess the situation in the camps before the aid's arrival . The volunteers will be moving through Kilis, Islahiya, Atma, Bab El Salama and Aleppo, as well as visiting  several refugee camps and hospitals inside Turkey. Hayat International Humanitarian Convoy to Syria will be launched from Turkey, a meeting point for all participants. Together, they will head towards the south Turkish borders and into Syria to deliver a variety of much needed aid. The main charities supporting this initiative are UK-based Human Appeal International (HAI), Turkish-based IHH İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri İnsani Yardım Vakfı, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), Canada-based Human Concern International (HCI) and Beirut-based Gawth for Emergency Relief and Aid. The participants involved have raised donations from the UK, Turkey, Canada, Egypt, Australia, Syria, Lebanon, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine and Somalia.

The convoy will deliver medical equipment, food parcels, clothing and educational material to refugee camps on the Syrian-Turkish borders and across different regions inside Syria itself. While the main donating charities are HAI, IRW, HCI, GAWTH, the overall facilitation will be carried out by IHH and local humanitarian organisations including Watan (a Syrian charity working through several local civil society institutions to rebuild the country). The convoy will be delivering a variety of aid packs to 20,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey and 30,000 internally displaced refugees in Aleppo. It will also deliver food parcels to 5,000 families inside Syria that will cover their needs for a whole month. Because the staple food of bread is not even available, the convoy will deliver flour to 10 bakeries inside Syria. The flour supply will provide each bakery with enough bread to feed 500 people for a month. Also, 1000 children will receive aid materials including food, clothing and medical aid for a period of two months. Because many of the Syrian people have suffered psychological trauma, The Hayat Convoy is bringing specialists who will provide psychological support and treatment to 1000 children and 1000 women based in the refugee camps of Turkey and Syria.

"Hayat is an initiative that developed due to the lack of awareness regarding the humanitarian crisis and lack of coordinated aid being delivered to the people of Syria. Together, as organisations and individuals, we want to make a statement that we are supporting every person in need, that we will strive to help them and let the world know about their suffering" said Hozaifa Aboulfotouh, Head Coordinator of The Hayat Convoy.

The Hayat Convoy aims to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation across Syria and in refugee camps. Therefore, participants in the convoy include several public figures, activists, researchers, medical specialists and aid workers. The young volunteers will be going to witness the distribution and convey back to their communities the reality of the situation.  

“Taking part in The Hayat Convoy is a great honour and an incredible opportunity to see first-hand the situation in Syria and the surrounding refugee camps. I hope to raise awareness of the situation unfolding in the area and to help deliver aid to Syrian refugees who desperately need it” says UK convoy team member Hannah Wilson, a 19-year old university student of international politics and economics.

The humanitarian crisis in Syria began two years ago with the onset of protests on March 15, 2011 as the Arab Spring swept across the region. Violence that began in the rural areas of Daraa, Homs and Idleb soon spread throughout the whole country. According to UNHCR statistics, the violence has left nearly 70,000 people killed, over 1 million Syrian refugees displaced and hundreds of thousands injured.

“During my recent visit to the Zaatari Camp, I noticed that there were many more young people than I expected to see. Thousands of young Syrians have now lost two years of their lives. Although the situation in Syria is really grave, being part of this effort as a young person is a breath of fresh air; it will have a positive impact on young Syrians” says 23-year old Ali Yousef, Human Appeal Fundraiser.

Follow us on #destinationsyria, @HumanAppeal