03 March 2016
Mohammad's Lonely Winter
Muslim Hands distributes winter relief to vulnerable communities all over the world. In February, Muslim Hands’ Digital Communications Editor, Tijen Horoz joined our field teams distributing blankets, mattresses, clothes and winter fuel to Syrian refugees in Southern Lebanon.
‘In Al Quaraoun camp sandwiched in between two snow-covered peaks in the Bekaa Valley, children are everywhere. Children of all ages, girls and boys, some blonde, some dark-haired, run around in the cold, wet mud. At first glance, it’s a normal enough scene. Except that these children are surrounded on all sides by white tents and all they are wearing to protect their little feet are plastic sandals.
I stop to talk to him.
Their father is still missing in Syria. He couldn’t make the journey with them and now they don’t know where he is or whether he is even alive.
Mohammad’s brother, Omar became the family’s main breadwinner at just 14 years of age. Now, a year on, Omar is like a father to Mohammad and he misses him when he is away working. To my privileged sensibilities it seems wrong that a teenage boy has to support a whole family, but what other choice is there? Without his meagre wage of £7 a day how would his mother and siblings scrape by?
Mohammad’s mother hasn’t been the same since her husband went missing. His dark eyes look scared and helpless as he tells me she is always depressed and breaking down in tears which aggravates her heart condition. Spying the threadbare carpet that adorns the bare mud floor of their tent, I ask Mohammad how his family could afford hospital fees for their mother and am overwhelmed to learn that a collection within the camp has covered the fee. The generosity of the families here, despite what little they have, is shown through gestures as small as the offers of tea or coffee that are made to us when we visit each tent, to something as major as potentially saving a neighbour’s life.
Mohammad’s are one of many families around the world who have received winter relief from Muslim Hands. As I stand talking to him I can feel the temperature dropping as the day inches closer towards sunset. The mattresses, blankets, heating fuel and warm winter jackets that our donors have provided for the families of this camp gives me some small comfort.
Keep them warm, keep them alive. Donate to our Winter Appeal now
By Tijen Horoz, Senior Communications Editor
