After 18 months of revolution in Syria that started out in peaceful demonstrations that violence has escalated to levels that none of us had thought about.
We are now at 200,000 refugees in Jordan from Syria. The other countries have taken Syrian in also – Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, but not as much as Jordan. This is not even an accurate account of the numbers since some people are coming across illegally from the desert. There is not enough housing and tents to help all that have come. The conditions are not that good in the camps, the different NGO groups are trying their best, but the influx of people on a daily basis is hard for the different groups to take care of. That is one o the reason that we had started to do some of our own humanitarian aid to the camps. We are a non profit, and volunteers are only working so their is on overhead on our part. Everything that is sent to us gets to the people.
The Syrian people are asking for our help. The governments of the foreign powers are not sure what to do – send weapons, create a no fly zone, or use a drone attack to get the government out of power, but whatever they do it is getting late for the Syrian people.
I still have relatives a lot of them in Aleppo and we talk as much as we can when there is phone service, which is not all the time. They are staying in their homes and not going out unless really needed. They still have a lot of canned food and they send one of the men out to get the bread and some greens, if there are any.
The food prices have gone up almost 200 percent so it is very difficult to pay for it, especially since the banks are closed and people can’t get their funds out. The one good thing is that most people always kept cash at home, but after 18 months how much can they still have left?
The pharmaceutical manufacturers have been hit that produce the medicine that is sent all over Syria- these places are all around Aleppo.
I recently met with someone that had just come back from Syria and met with Assad and also members of the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups. What he said was very disheartening in that he tried to get the groups together to compromise, but neither side would have anything to do with the other. He said that this war will last longer then any of us think. I am hoping and wishing of what he said is not true. I am not sure how people there will be able to last. Like all civil wars it is the innocent civilians that get caught in the middle and they are the loser at the beginning. Please pray for the Syrian people that this will not go on much longer and that the foreign powers might be able to come to a compromise and help stop this conflict.
We thank you for all your support and also your phone calls about the people that you met while traveling their and also for asking about my family and how they are doing- this is really appreciated.
If you would like to make a contribution you can mail a check to Salaam Cultural Museum at 3806 Whitman Ave. N, Seattle, WA98103, or you can click the PayPal Donation link and make a secure donation online.
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