Envying the dead

By Conny Lennenberg, regional leader of World Vision's programmes in the Middle East and Eastern European Region

Last week a Syrian mother told me: “In Homs we had a small apartment, the children shared two bedrooms and though we didn’t have much, I was never envious of anyone. Now, I envy even the dead in Syria.” Those words are heartbreaking. 

I met this woman and her family while visiting an “informal tented settlement”, a cluster of some 25 families living in makeshift shelters of flimsy wooden frames and plastic sheeting, on the edge of a potato field in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. It is hard to imagine envying the dead. But, as I put myself in the shoes of refugees who have experienced four years of a conflict that still has no visible prospects for peace, who are living in countries that are increasingly hostile to refugees, whose men are unable to find work and whose children are unable to attend school, I begin to understand the depths of anguish and despair the mothers feel.

I also wrestle with how World Vision should respond to such a profound sense of hopelessness. We can be proud of what we have done to meet some of the critical humanitarian needs of those affected by the crisis in Syria, but we know more needs to be done.

As an immediate response, we must put renewed focus on how we can provide formal education to children affected by the crisis. While more can be done to alleviate suffering, it is access to formal education for their children that parents most plead for. Without that access, children and families are under pressure to cope with their circumstances through child labour and early marriage. Without education, their future is at risk of being stolen and we risk losing a generation of children. If we can meet the need, we can restore a mother’s hope and a child’s future. 

But beyond the needs of these children in this conflict, we must respond by insisting on the creation of a new global ethic and institutions that inspire people around the world to act, to demand of our leaders that they find effective solutions to these conflicts. The International institutions that were established in the mid-20th century are clearly failing our 21st century realities - they are unable to secure the rights enshrined in the Human Rights Convention, ineffective at preventing and resolving wars, and presiding over an increasingly unequal world where just 1 per cent of humanity owns more than the other 99 per cent. Compassion fatigue, increasing indifference to the suffering of those in conflicts, and those seeking asylum are all symptoms of a failing system. 

If we succeed in this, we can offer hope to a mother that envies the dead. If we don’t, the children of this conflict and myriad others will carry the scars of their suffering throughout their lives.