Stuck Between Burning Fire and Freezing Ice

By Angela E Joyce

Freezing in Flip Flops

It is an awful sight, children wandering around in nothing but thin ripped shirts and flip-flops in -14 degrees Celsius (6.8 Fahrenheit) weather. They are everywhere walking through the camp shivering from the cold. Everyone is in the same boat here at a refugee camp in Syria. However, the children and the elderly are at a greater risk of falling ill or freezing to death. Two weeks ago, it was reported by UNICEF that five children in Northern Syria had passed away from harsh weather conditions. There are hundreds of thousands of people “at great risk” after Syria experiences heavy snowstorms.

Harsh Weather is like a “Disaster Domino Effect”

This bout of harsh weather is the straw that broke the camel's back for many refugee families that have already experienced catastrophe upon catastrophe, Al Jazeera calls it the “disaster domino” effect. The unimaginable is the reality for these people: not having enough warm clothing, adequate supplies like oil or wood to keep warm, having tents damaged, and collapsing on children.

"This is yet another blow to people whose lives are already beyond unbearable. People can see their own breath when lying on their thin mattresses. Families are afraid that they will freeze to death," said Jolien Veldwijk, CARE's Syria country director.

Above photo: Men distribute warm items to a refugee camp in Syria as a part of Life’s Winter Warmth Project

In a refugee camp in Lebanon’s Beka Valley, there is a young woman named Dood. She describes the desperate situation. “The situation is so bad, there are children, there are old people, and we don't know what to do.”

Dood’s living conditions are horrific, to leave her tent she must walk through icy water that lies just outside her tent. Every night, despite the freezing temperatures she turns her fuel heater off because she is afraid of the tent catching fire if one of her children accidentally knocks it over while sleeping.

The photo above: Woman in a refugee camp in Syria receiving items from Life’s Winter Warmth Project

Life’s Winter Warmth Project

Life’s Winter Warmth Project is of the utmost importance. We have completed distributing coats and warm items to countries like Pakistan and Syria. The cold in these regions is relentless and the people are suffering. Thousands of families are in urgent need of assistance.

Donate Now and Save Lives

Please donate now to keep the refugee children warm this winter in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, Yemen, and Bangladesh. (Link here).