After three years, Syrians in Raqqa receive a lifeline
Families burn any material they can find, even their belongings, to cook food
Cut off from regular humanitarian assistance for three years because of conflict and besiegement, Syrian families of Raqqa have had to survive on their own and with very little. Now, the World Food Programme (WFP) has increased its regular monthly assistance, covering eight hard-to-reach locations across Raqqa and one camp in Hassakeh. WFP is providing nearly 200,000 people with food and with the hope of rebuilding their lives.
All that’s left of 10-year-old Faisal’s family is his 12-year old brother Jasem and his eldest sister Fatema. They lost their parents and three older siblings to the violence that engulfed Raqqa earlier in the year. Now the three siblings work together to protect one another, carrying their WFP food ration back to their tent.
Fatema, only 17, is the main cook of the family, since their mother had passed on some family recipes. “Jasem and Faisal help me out all the time though,” she said. WFP’s life-saving food assistance helps young people like Fatema and her siblings survive, until they are able to restart their futures.
The conflict in Raqqa has left deep wounds in the hearts and psyche of many Syrians. Those who lived through unspeakable hardship and felt the meaning of loss are fearful of losing, yet again, what they now have, even if it is the food rations that carry them through the month.
“I lost everything — my home, my clothes and my husband. I never expected this to happen,” said Om Hassan.
WFP will continue to provide regular food assistance, so that women like Om Hassan can slowly begin to feel more secure.
Abo Malik sits with his mother, whom he carried with the help of his three sons as they fled the escalating violence in their hometown in Raqqa governorate. Abo Malik is very proud of his mother’s fortitude and believes all Syrians are as strong as she is.
“Our journey was dangerous. We walked through farmland riddled with mines. I do not know how we survived,” said Abo Malik, who is now living temporarily in Ain Issa camp, where more than 6,000 people are staying. In June and July, WFP provided monthly food assistance to up to 35,000 people sheltering in Ain Issa camp and the surrounding villages in Ain Issa town.
As they wait for WFP’s local partners to distribute food rations in Raqqa’s Ain Issa camp, Om Kussay and Zahra catch up on the latest news in the camp and on the recent arrivals of displaced families. The two young women bonded in Ain Issa camp when they realized they came from adjacent rural areas north of Raqqa City. They escaped conflict and trekked through the desert to reach the camp.
“We both narrowly escaped death. Now we are trying to survive together with our children and families here,” said Zahra.
Mayada and her little sister Samia, look on with anticipation as their mother prepares a delicious Zaatar pie, made with thyme and herbs, and bread provided by WFP. “I love Zaatar!” said Mayada. Her mother told WFP staff that her daughters and son Taher would go for days eating only bread and some yoghurt, when food was scarce.
Now with steady access to Raqqa, WFP is able to respond to the needs of vulnerable woman-headed households like Om Taher’s, so far trucking 12,200 family food rations to feed up to 35,000 people in Ain Issa camp and the surrounding villages, as well as nutrition products for children.
Many families have lost fathers, husbands and sons, to the conflict, leaving women like Jouriya alone to fend for herself and do all the heavy lifting. She walks a long stretch in Ain Issa camp to reach the distribution area where WFP food rations are handed out.
“It is better to carry all my belongings at once than making several trips to my tent in the unforgiving sun,” said Jouriya, who now looks after five grandchildren after losing her two sons in the violence in Raqqa.
Fresh produce such as cucumbers help to quench the thirst of displaced families in Ain Issa camp, where the temperature runs as high as 50°C and drinking water is limited.
Abo Khaled runs a stand selling fresh food in Ain Issa camp, offering people options that complement WFP’s standard food basket. Most Syrians living in the camps cannot afford the extra goods all the time.
“Every few days, mothers and fathers come to purchase these fresh goods to make a special meal for their children,” said Abo Khaled.
Mabrouka camp in Hassakeh governorate hosts families displaced by the violence in Raqqa.
These brothers and friends have endured violence and isolation, yet are still able to smile with each other. The majority of families in these camps have two meals per day.
Extreme heat is one of the biggest threats in Mabrouka camp. “The camp is so hot all day and you feel dead by the end of the day,” said Mohamad.
“I miss my home. There, we had everything we needed. I want to go back.”
Water is hard to come by in the camp, and what little they have is salted from debris and heated in the unforgiving sun. No ice is sold in Mabrouka camp. Despite this, children gather around the main water tank at the camp to quench their thirst.
With no cooking gas or wood in the area, people have resorted to burning any material they can find, even their belongings, to cook food for themselves and families. In July, WFP distributed food rations to 5,000 people in the camp on unbearably hot days, with temperatures as high as 50° C.
Saeed, one of the recipients, cooks a meal out in the open, boiling a mixture of rice and lentils — some of the food items included in WFP’s food rations — while his family wait in the shade of their sweltering hot tent.
Simple but life-saving meals like these are possible because of the support of donors such as Norway.
