Category

Success Stories

Aug 25
22

Another story for a displaced family, the hero this time is the elder sister

By | FSL, Latest News, Success Stories

In a humble tent sewn from cloth, Samah, 30, lives with her two sisters and brother in the harsh conditions of displacement in western Aleppo countryside.
Samah’s life was completely turned upside down after she lost her parents as a result of the shelling that targeted the city of Sinjar in Idlib countryside, where her family lived, and then Samah found herself responsible on her family, besides the responsibility of taking care of her brother Salim 18 and her sister Samar 19 who have Down’s syndrome since she is the older sister who used to spend time with them, along with her younger sister, Salma, 26.
“We escaped at night from the constant shelling, we couldn’t take anything with us but our old and torn clothes. We headed north till we reached Aleppo countryside, we had no shelter, it was summer and the sun burns like a hell!. I could manage to get a few pieces of cloth and made a tent to become our new home. I had to do whatever it takes to find shelter for me and my family” Samah said.
Samah is the only breadwinner for her family and she works all day during the hot summer and cold winter in harvesting crops to be able to meet the basic needs of her family, and because of her absence at work she was not able to take care of her brother Salim and sister Samar and spend time with them as they used to before the displacement and the death of her parents.
Ihsan Relief and Development, in partnership with the World Food Program (WFP), provides monthly food aid to 34,000 from the most vulnerable families in northern Syria. IhsanRD team reached Samah’s family and provide them with a monthly food basket to help them withstand the harsh circumstances surrounding them.
The monthly food basket they received removed a huge burden of securing food on a daily basis, and now, Samah has more time to take care of Salim and Samar. Samah told us about their hopes that one day they will return home.

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Jul 23
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How days pass like years, a long journey of displacement that Ahmed’s family going through

By | Latest News, Shelter&NFI, Success Stories

Ahmed, 72, displaced from the southern countryside of Idlib with his family of 13.
Due to the recent military escalation in Hama and southern Idlib, and with the intensification of shelling on villages and on the civilian communities, Ahmad’s family was forced to flee like hundreds of thousands of Syrian families who left their homes and villages and headed north, where the situation is relatively safer.
“We left our house with the clothes we were wearing until we reached the western countryside of Aleppo, and we stayed in this worn tent with no mattresses or covers, we just wanted to survive!!
The villagers gave us an old mat and two mattresses to sleep on.” Ahmed said.
It was the most difficult thing Ahmed faced when he saw his children sleeping at night while they were lying on that worn mattresses. Before the displacement, he used to look after his children and cover them while sleeping at night.
“We were in this situation for 20 days, but we felt like it’s 20 years” said Ahmed.
In partnership with CARE International, IhsanRD is carrying out an Emergency Response to the newly displaced people in the north of Syria through the provision of emergency kits that contain mattresses, mat, plastic sheeting and insulation for the tent as well as a water jerrycans and a solar lamp, in addition to the kitchen kits containing spoons, dishes and a pot for cooking and mugs. Of these, 4,500 new arrived displaced families have benefited from this project in the western Aleppo countryside.
Ahmad received this aid and returned to his tent with the distribution team at IhsanRD. The family was very happy to get this assistance as the children opened the kits and scattered the items on the floor of the tent while they are laughing.
Now, Ahmed’s children can sleep on soft mattresses and enjoy the warmth of their blankets in the hope that one day they will return to their home and sleep safely in their beds when the war ends.

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Jun 17
9

How the legal awareness team at IhsanRD helps IDPs to obtain legal documents

By | Latest News, Protection, Success Stories

There are many different stories of displaced people who flee the war zones in Syria, but they share the common issue of obtaining the legal documents.
Although years of displacement and stability in relatively safe areas, a large number of displaced people remain without legal documents either because of losing their property during displacement or because they do not know how to apply for new official documents in the places they fled to, such as the case of Hussein and his family, who settled in a random IDPs camp in the northern countryside of Aleppo after fleeing from their town in Sefirah.
The journey of Hussein’s family began in Al-Bab city, but due to the high rents of the houses there and the difficulty of finding a suitable job, Hussein was forced to move with his family to an IDPs camp near the city of Al-Bab.
Hussein is married for six years and has two children, a 5-years-old boy, and a 3-years-old girl, but Hussein’s family does not have any identity document that certifies their civil rights after settling in the place they have been displaced to, resulting in many problems and challenges.
“Because we don’t have legal documents, I suffer when I take my children to health centers, and when I register in humanitarian organizations to get the aid that my family needs; apart from the difficulty of moving and crossing security checkpoints,” Hussein said.
The Legal Awareness Team at IhsanRD in Qabbasien has provided awareness sessions for the displaced about registration procedures for marriage certificates, birth certificates and the importance of the legal documents. The group met with Hussein and helped him obtaining all legal documents missing.
The first thing that the legal awareness team did was to accompany Hussein and his family to the nearest civil registration center to have all identification documents for him and his wife, marriage certificate and a family record. After that, Hussein obtained his full legal rights, which makes it easier for him to enroll his children in school, go to the health centers, register for relief assistance, and facilitate movements and passing the security checkpoints.
“Now I have my legal rights, and feel I’m a member of the society” Hussein said.

May 23
7

With the help of her teacher, Shaimaa returns to play and concentrate in class after losing her parents

By | Education, Latest News, Success Stories

Shaimaa, 9, Syria – Aleppo
A well-trained teacher who brought Shaimaa back on track

At the age of 7, Shaimaa had lost her mother, and two of her brothers, which made her an orphan, as she has lost her father earlier. She stayed with her uncle, who carried the responsibility of her at that time, and had to send her to the orphans school where he expected to be a better place for her with children have similar sad situations like the one she had.
Shaimaa’s family is not displaced, given that they live already in one of the most famous destinations of internally displaced families, Al Atareb subdistrict in Aleppo countryside. This area was highly targeted and affected by the armed confrontations and the air strikes bombardings. Shaimaa’s family wasn’t a family of high income, but it was a family of a good education, her parents were both teachers, and hoped to raise their children to be educated at the highest level. The father, died as a result of the confrontations to leave the mother with 4 sons and 2 daughters to raise, support, and educate. The mother kept doing what she knew the best, teaching. She did that in the school supported by Save the Children through IhsanRD, Banat Al Atareb. Unfortunately, after the heavy bombarding targeted Al Atareb in December 2016, the family of Shaimaa lost the only provider and two sons who were scared and hiding their heads under their mother arms. Shaimaa’s uncle, wasn’t able to provide the needed financial and emotional support to his 2 nieces and 2 nephews, bearing in mind that he also lost other two brothers who in their turn left their families to face the hardships of living in Syria alone. For Shaimaa, the orphans’ school, wasn’t the right place to learn. But, her childish hope stayed inside here, wishing for a better tomorrow. The teachers of Banat Al Atareb school, stayed loyal to their beloved colleague Fatima Jalloul (Shaimaa’s mother) and never forgot Shaimaa, after the developments made in their school by IhsanRD, they reached out to Saimaa’s sister (21 years) which turned to be a college student and works as well as her youngest brother (19 years) in order to provide the minimum standard of livings to their siblings after they all came back to live in the same house they used to live in after being rehabilitated. On the 1st of October 2018, Shaimaa came back to be enrolled in her school at the 4th grade, where her mother used to teach for nearly 10 years. The traumas Shaimaa experienced had a lot of impact on the small girl, she now fears any sudden voices because of the bombardings targeted her home “the most thing scared me was the bombarding, it was hitting our house”. Shaimaa’s teacher Zahra who attended the “Child Safeguarding Policy training” for three days as well as other training delivered by IhsanRD staff, noticed that she is not showing the same reactions in classes as her teammates, not engaging with them in the playground, and talk as less as she can. The teacher tried to excite Shaimaa, by talking to her and gaining her confidence, motivating her for classes, and what matters more, talking with her about her family, and her parents whom she missed. The teacher noticed that drawing is one of the very useful tools for children to express their thoughts, therefore she
motivated the children including Shaimaa to draw and she even draws with them, using the materials provided by IhsanRD. It is obvious that Shaimaa will keep remember her mother and father and talk about them as she said: “the thing which will help me the most, is to have my parents living with us again”. But isn’t much better for Shaimaa to be able to mention her parents and express her feeling of the tendency to them? in order to go through these difficult days of her life. Shaimaa’s teachers insisted on helping her to overcome her issues and get back on track in her class. In the end, she was so proud and pleased “Shaimaa is playing with her friends again, fulfils her hobbies, and we draw together a lot”. Even though the education Shaimaa had in the 2nd and 3rd grade wasn’t as good as she deserves, she managed to excel in her class with the support of her caring teacher.
Shaimaa now is participating in class actively, she is playing with her friends especially her best friend “Jana”, and she is talking to her teacher a lot. Now, Shaimaa is more optimistic about achieving her amazing ambition “my dream is to be a doctor. I will continue my education and fulfil my dream”.

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Feb 27
4

Childhood faces displacement: How protection mobile teams help displaced children

By | Education, Latest News, Protection, Success Stories

Kasem, 12 years, the oldest of his five brothers. due to war and bombardment, Kasem and his family were forced to leave their home in Hama and headed to the north of Syria where it is a relatively safer place for them till they settled in an IDPs camp in Harim Sub District, Idleb.

The experience of forced displacement made Kasem out of school, and no friends to play with, thinking of the play yard he used to spend most of his time in, “I miss my school and my family’s field of olive trees, I miss home, and everything”, loneliness that is what was Kasem suffering the most.

Kasem’s father was concerned about his oldest son and added: ” My family went through a long and harsh journey of displacement, I’m worried about my children’s future for being out of school all this time.”

Loneliness and sadness that Kasem was feeling ended when IhsanRD Protection Mobile Team arrived to the camp, where the team launched a series of group activies, and out of nowhere the happiness spreaded among the children, Kasem and his brothers started to play with other kids, they forgot about the displacement at least for a while.

Also, IhsanRD team supported the informal education space in the camp with learning instruments and provided the children with books, bags, and stationery, Kasem and other kids returned back to school.

Kasem’s dream is to have a stable life, returning to the olive trees and their old home, and completing his education to become a teacher at their village school.

With THF support, IhsanRD is implementing a protection response through integrated mobile emergency services in NW Syria, we have managed to reach more than 50,000 IDP’s with different services like rising awareness sessions, psycho-social support, case management, and recreational activities for children.

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Nov 23
3

Mamdouh goes back to growing wheat in his field

By | FSL, Latest News, Success Stories

Mamdouh Saleh, 55, from Al Hawash village in Hama countryside.
He and his family with eight children faced harsh conditions because of the war. Their displacement journey from their village continued for three years, where they forced to flee to Atmeh camp near the Turkish border.
When the situation began to stable, Mamdouh returned to the village to find his field barren and lifeless. He had to leave it without cultivation because he could not afford the reclamation costs. He had to work with his daughters in his neighbors’ farms for a living.
Mamdouh found a chance to return to cultivate his field through the Wheat Support Project implemented by IhsanRD funded by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre. He began planting his farm this year after receiving the seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides and the following guidance from the agricultural experts within the project team.
Mamdouh expressed great pleasure and optimism that the cultivation of his land will enable him this year to dispense with the work for others and improve his family’s situation.

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Nov 13
6

Parenting Skills Program at the Women’s Creativity Center

By | Latest News, Protection, Success Stories

“After 5 years of suffering with my child’s problem of bedwetting, I lost hope and completely surrendered to this situation and I thought that it’s a genetic problem”

Entesar, a mother of three children, lives with her family in a village near the city of Armnaz.
She heard about the Women’s Creativity Center in Armanaz, supported by IhsanRD, where training sessions were held for women in many domains.
“Even though I live in another village, I visited the center and I learned that a parenting skills program will start soon”
The program is conducted by the Psychosocial Support team and addressing the problems facing children. “I did not know that in this wonderful place I will find the key to my problem. After the trainer presented the problem of involuntary urination, I followed all the steps that she guided me through, so I have learned that there are several reasons for this problem.”
Indeed, her child’s situation improved significantly when Entesar followed the advice she received in the training.
“What helped me the most that I rationally analyzed the reasons of the problem and had a strong determination to help my child in crossing over this challenge. Thank God I finally did it with the help of the trainer who gave my problem a lot of attention”.
In the end, Entesar sent a message to the Syrian mothers:
“We’re the mothers must be strong and have the determination to face the hardships of life”

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Oct 17
4

Sultan gets a high school diploma and takes a seat at the university

By | Education, Latest News, Success Stories, Wash

Sultan al-Jassim “Abu Mohammed” from the town of Souran, in the northern countryside of Hama, was a local teacher in the village elementary school for 20 years. Due to the war, Sultan was forced to move and live in IDPs camps in the area of Ma’arat al-Nu’man in Idlib, under very harsh conditions. IhsanRD’s team met Sultan during the water services activities of WASH program, as the members of the team were impressed by Sultan’s determination despite his difficult circumstances and age, dreaming in a better future. He graduated from high school with his son and daughter at the same time. He managed to succeed and booked seats at the University of Idlib to study Arabic and his daughter in the Faculty of Education and his son in the Faculty of Architecture. Sultan goes to university every day with his two children and returns to their tent, which does not protect them from hot in summer or cold in winter, believing that man can change his reality with determination and will.

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Sep 19
3

Musab returns to his field

By | FSL, Latest News, Success Stories

When you are a father of 6 and your profession is agriculture, the way you feel at harvest time is like the feeling of waiting for your new baby.
Read Musab’s story, who was able to return to harvesting his field with support from an agriculture project in northern Syria funded by KSrelief.

Musab, a farmer and father of 6 children
“I had left farming and abandoned my field with the outbreak of war because of the high prices and costs of agriculture, which led to the low standard of living of my family which faced difficult times.
One day I learned through the announcements of the local council in the town about the project to support the vegetable growing, funded by the KSrelief. And after being accepted as one of the beneficiaries in the project I received all the agriculture inputs from seeds and fertilizers, pesticides and fuel for irrigation and continued farming operations with the team step In a step we listened to the advice they gave us during the training sessions and we came thanks to God to the harvest stage.
Today the land has returned to production. We thank God because the crop was abundant, it secured the home supplies of vegetables and sold the surplus of them”

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Sep 12
1

Suffering after displacement, Fawzi experience in Cash-For-Work activity with the IhsanRD

By | Education, FSL, Latest News, Success Stories

The story hasn’t finished yet … the suffering of Fawzi and his family has not ended with the end of their displacement from Ghouta to northern Syria.
Fawzi, like many heads of displaced families, needs to work so his family can survive.
This is what IhsanRD seeks to achieve through the integration of cash-for-work activities projects in Syria.

Difficult days Fawzi has passed through during the journey of displacement from eastern Ghouta, where he witnessed with his family times filled with fear and terror.

Fawzi’s suffering did not end despite the end of the displacement journey from Ghouta to the north, he ran into a painful reality there, where job opportunities are almost non-existent, what caused more suffering and anxiety for him and his family and continued lacking most of the necessities of life. He even lived hard times similar to those he lived during the siege of the eastern Ghouta.

Today, Fawzi, thanks to his work in one of the workshops on school rehabilitation projects supported by IhsanRD in the city of Idlib, has been able to provide support for his wife and children, Fawzi will return home with the needs of his family. That is the happiness that Fawzi hopes to continue alongside his work.

Fawzi’s story resembles dozens of stories of people who have managed to achieve some of their dreams that are limited to getting a job that provides them with some basic needs that helps them to survive.

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