As Syria enters its 12th year of crisis, Islamic Relief is helping determined families strive for a future free from hunger.
Since fleeing Syria with her 2 daughters, widowed Hana faced a life on the edge of survival in Hatay, Turkey. She could not afford to buy clothes for her children. Paying the rent or water bills was impossible.
Reliant on food aid and unsure of how she would provide the next meal for her children, Hana’s days were filled with struggle and stress.
Like so many caught up in the unrelenting Syrian crisis, Hana wanted only to be able to support her children.
With your support, Islamic Relief has remained by her side, helping her step toward self-reliance.
Livelihoods that boost self-reliance
Enterprising Hana was enrolled in our livelihoods project for Syrian refugees, giving her the chance to build a brighter future for her family.
Hana and over 2,000 other widowed women received training and equipment to grow plants and produce to sell, as well as the materials and engineering expertise to construct a greenhouse.
Hana has learned how to treat and care for plants, providing her family with both food and a sustainable livelihood. Our agriculture-based project also bought and leased the land to Hana for 3 years, to provide certainty and security as her daughters grow up.
“I was handed the role of father and mother at home, raising children and getting them a daily sustenance, it was a great responsibility,” says Hana. “Islamic Relief provided us with everything we need in order to make this project a success. We earn enough money. Now my daughters look at me with pride.”
Families that stayed behind in crisis-stricken Syria also face a grim struggle to earn enough to feed their families. At least 50% of Syria’s working age population is unemployed, and spiralling food costs are pushing ever larger numbers of people into hunger and uncertainty.
For many, hunger has become a constant companion.
Hope for a future free from hunger
Father-of-8 Mustafa and his family have been repeatedly displaced, forced to flee in a never-ending search for safety and stability in Syria. Now residing in Bals village in Jisr al-Shurgur, their lives have been improved by an Islamic Relief project to install a water station in the village and distribute free water through a new water network.
“In the past, we did not have reliable access to water,” explains Mustafa. “We had to look for water tankers and buy water. We used to collect water in underground tanks exposed to insects and diseases.”
Our agricultural livelihood projects aim to build the resilience of vulnerable families who have suffered loss and unspeakable hardship. We are enabling over 450 households to improve their livelihoods and ensure a more reliable supply of food.
For Mustafa, not having to buy water – or risk drinking water stored in contaminated tanks – has made a big difference.
“We are using the money we save to buy food for the children. We are drinking clean water, taking showers, and watering the crops, I am very happy now.”
These programmes are critical not only to tackle hunger and malnutrition, but also to support the Syrian people to lay the foundations for a brighter and more prosperous future.
Please stand with the Syrian people and help us to keep rebuilding shattered lives: donate now.