When nothing becomes everything
Imagine yourself in a tent, in the middle of nowhere. There’s no escape from the blistering summer heat or the biting winter cold. The walls of your tent barely shield you and your children from the elements. After 13 years of conflict and displacement, like millions of others, you’ve had to adapt to a life of relentless uncertainty, navigating through loss, hope, and resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship.
For Abu Ali*, 48, this life is his reality. Forced from his home countless times, he endured his last displacement in 2019, under a storm of bombs. He arrived at the camp with nothing but his family and a determination to survive. “Getting a tent here wasn’t easy,” he recalls. “We only wanted a roof over our heads, however flimsy. It was better than nothing.” That tent, though far from adequate shelter, became the sanctuary that would help his family endure.
In the camp, Abu Ali takes any work he can find - sometimes farming, other times construction. Yet age has worn down his strength. Surrounded by younger men, he senses their quiet judgment, as if they’re asking, what is this older man doing here? Despite it all, he pushes on. “At my age, I work in construction for barely 100 lira,” he says, his voice heavy with fatigue. Giving to the circumstance of the high living cost in North West Syria.
To address the food insecurity gripping families like Abu Ali’s, thanks to funding from the World Food Programme, World Vision Syria Response, launched a vital programme in Syria, aiming to combat malnutrition and hunger for the most vulnerable. This programme provides 4,324 families in northwest Syria with food parcels and food supplements. Abu Ali, like 27,627 others, relies on these parcels—not for abundance but for fragile stability, a bare minimum to survive. “These baskets aren’t life-changing,” he reflects, “but they hold us together. They keep us going.” He also adds, “these supplements are a blessing, they help fight malnutrition and give our children a small chance to grow strong”. The supplements, in particular, serve as a vital countermeasure against malnutrition, protecting children and mothers from the severe consequences of nutritional deficiencies.
Abu Ali expresses his gratitude for the support. After living through such challenging conditions, this support is a light in the middle of a dark tunnel. “Thank you from the depths of my heart, and I hope this project continues to support all the people in the camps.”
The area where the project is implemented presents an especially vulnerable community, 4,324 families - 27,627 people across 66 camps - rely on this support. Among them, 3,878 children under the age of two receive food support, while 949 children between 5 months and 14 benefit from nutritional assistance. Additionally, 714 women facing medical issues and 433 pregnant women receive these essential provisions.
"I wish to return to my home soon; we have suffered greatly, and I hope that support continues in northwest Syria, as the tragic situation has become unbearable," Abu Ali says, a sentiment shared by countless others.
In a world where so much has been taken from them, these food baskets represent something: a glimmer of hope, a reason to keep going. For Abu Ali, this “something” is a reminder of resilience—a steady hand to hold his family together when nothing else is left.
*Name/ Names has/ have been changed to protect identity.
