‘We burned clothes to keep warm’
By Fionn Shiner A MOTHER in Syria has described how she has been forced to burn clothes to keep her disabled daughter warm amid reports that on the ninth anniversary of the civil war the economy is in freefall and people are on the breadline.
Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Sister Maria Lúcia Ferreira, from Mar Yakub Monastery in Qara, Qalamoun, about 50 miles north of the capital, Damascus, relayed an account of desperate measures taken by a woman she has been helping.
The Sister, known as Sister Myri, said: “A local woman, whom we know well because she has a disabled daughter, told us that she had neither electricity nor gas.
“It is very hard to get gas in the country, or any kind of fuel oil, to heat the furnace.
“So she told us: ‘To keep Maria, my girl, warm, we have been burning clothes that we no longer use.’”
In response, ACN has provided heating fuel for more than 1,700 families in the Aleppo and Damascus regions, prioritising the elderly and the sick.
Sister Myri added that food is increasingly scarce and that economic sanctions imposed by Western nations had worsened the situation significantly.
The World Bank estimates – as of 2017 – the conflict caused a £217billion loss in GDP.
Sister Myri said: “It’s horrible. People can no longer buy anything to eat. Some people survive on bread and water.”
She added: “After the crisis in Lebanon and the new sanctions imposed on the country, the economic situation has become really terrible.”
According to Sister Myri, the harsh winter increased the strain on struggling families.
She said: “The winter was mild until January, when several snow storms struck us here in Qalamoun, one of the coldest places in Syria.
“Here in Qalamoun, we still get two hours with electricity and four hours without it.
“But I think the area is better off than others because we heard that in the city of Homs, they sometimes go two days without electrical power. It depends on the part of the country.”
The civil war has left more than 380,000 dead and, according to the UNHCR, created 5.6 million refugees and 6.6 million internally displaced persons.
Syria is a priority country for ACN, and in 2018 the charity supported 185 projects, providing medicine, rent money for housing, education scholarships, repairs to homes and churches, and support for Sisters and priests.
For the eighth year running, ACN provided Christmas parcels for more than 19,000 children, containing warm clothes, shoes, toys, devotional items and other essentials.
Sister Myri also said: “I would like to ask people to join us to pray for these people who are in such a situation.”
Editor’s Notes
www.acnuk.org
Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation directly under the Holy See. As a Catholic charity, ACN supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in need through information, prayer, and action.
Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope St John Paul II named “An outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in 140 countries throughout the world.
Undertaking thousands of projects every year, the charity provides emergency support for people experiencing persecution, transport for clergy and lay Church workers, Child’s Bibles, media and evangelisation projects, churches, Mass stipends and other support for priests and nuns and training for seminarians.
Aid to the Church in Need UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748). ACN’s UK office is in Sutton, Surrey and there is a Scottish office in Motherwell, near Glasgow and another office based in Lancaster that covers the North-West.
Please always acknowledge Aid to the Church in Need as the source when using our material.
For more information, contact Senior Press Officer Dr John Newton on 020 8661 5167 or ACN Press and Parliamentary and Press Officer Fionn Shiner on 020 8661 5175.
Aid to the Church in Need sends out its press releases to members of media organisations, and individuals who have specifically requested to be on our list. If you no longer wish to receive our press releases please email fionn.shiner@acnuk.org with the word “Remove” in the subject box. ACN’s Privacy Policy can be found at www.acnuk.org/privacy.