In wartime, displaced Syrian mothers commit to breastfeeding
Damascus- 8 Auguest 2015 “I am proud of my baby girl and myself. We just got her nutritional screening and she is healthy” Rudaina* told us with excitement. “It’s because I have been breastfeeding her for the past seven months” the mother added. Rudania, a mother of three fled her home in eastern Aleppo two […]
Mass vaccination campaign reaches more than 1.6 million children across war-torn Syria
“Everyone is coming to get their children vaccinated and I like to be one of the first,” said Samira at a primary health centre in Damascus where she brought her five year old daughter to be vaccinated. Supported by UNICEF, a nation-wide measles campaign aimed to reach children between six months and five years of […]
Unsung Hero Killed in the Line of Duty
By Razan Rashidi Wednesday 6 May was an exciting day for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteers working in the Douma Branch, just outside of Damascus. They were expecting a delivery of vaccines and medical supplies for their local health centre – a huge achievement in an area cut off from even the most […]
In Homs, Qusay is not giving up on his dream: become an artist
Until 2012, Qusay was living in Khalidiya district of Homs. As the conflict in Syria expanded, he and his family left for Al-Waer in early 2015 followed by another move to Al-Hamra, also in the Homs province. “Since my childhood, I loved art. I have dreamt of being an actor, singing, and even being on […]
Meet Alaa, 17, volunteer and peer educator in Syria
In 2013, the conflict in Syria forced Alaa and his family to flee the neighborhood of Jouret Shiyah for Al-Dablan, a safer area in Homs. Once his family had resettled, something happened that put the life of the 16 year old Alaa on a new course. Alaa heard about vocational and life skills workshops at […]
فرق جوالة من المتطوعين تجلب الفرح للأطفال المتأثرين بالنزاع في محافظة حمص السورية
إعداد رزان رشيدي حمص/ دمشق – 3/ 2/ 2015 – بالرغم من الصراع الدائر في سوريا، يعمل الشباب على إيجاد طرق لجلب السعادة للأطفال الذين لا يزالون يعانون من مظاهر الرعب اليومية في الحرب. فداخل البلاد وحدها يحتاج أكثر من 12 مليون شخص للمساعدة الإنسانية، ونصفهم تقريبا من الأطفال. تقول هالة، 23 سنة، وهي متطوعة […]
UNICEF school clubs help Syrian children catch up during summer break
By Razan Rashidi 27 August 2014, Qamishly, Syria – It’s holiday time, but for three days of every week, Lama, a fifth grader, attends a UNICEF-supported school club in Safi Al-Dien Al-Heli School in Qamishly, a town in northeast Syria. “Last year, I stayed all summer at home without electricity and water,” she said. “I […]
In war-torn Aleppo, IDP children are the main focus for vaccination against measles
Aleppo 19 June 2014: “It was last week that my little Raya*, started to show symptoms of measles,” said Oum Hani, a mother of three who arrived in the western part of Aleppo six months ago. “She was really in pain and couldn’t breathe,” Oum Hani recalled. “I brought her to this clinic and they […]
Protecting her baby against polio: one Syrian mother’s story
By Razan Rashidi Aleppo, 18 June 2014: Rihab and her husband left Al Nierab town, north of Aleppo, four months ago. Now they live in an unfinished building in the government-controlled western part of Aleppo city. Their seven months old daughter, Dana, was born during a particularly intense period of fighting in Syria’s ongoing conflict. […]
Intense fighting hampers vital polio vaccination efforts in Syria
القصة بالعربية By Razan Rashidi Deir Ezzor- Damascus, 7 May 2014: Vaccination teams are braving intense fighting in Syria’s north-eastern province of Deir Ezzor amid ongoing efforts to protect children against the crippling polio virus following an outbreak of the disease in the same area last year.
Focusing on hard-to-reach children for polio vaccination campaign in Syria
By Razan Rashidi Rural Damascus, 7 April 2014 – “One drop, two drops,” a mother counts along with a health worker at Dahiet Qudsaya health centre in Rural Damascus. Her three-year-old daughter cries at the unusual taste of the polio vaccine in her mouth, but the mother calms her down: “Now you will grow up […]