‘This is all I need’, Ibitssam said ‘this will keep me and my children warm.’

JORDAN, 13 February 2014 (ICMC) - Ibtissam al Muhammad, a 26 year old mother from Deraa, Syria, fled to Jordan with her two small children. With little income, she struggles hard to protect her young family from harsh winter conditions.

After her arrival in Jordan, Ibtissam decided to bring her children to live with her mother-in-law in Sahkrah, a small place in Irbid, not far from the Syrian border.…… ‘Sahkra is full of Syrian refugees’, Ibtissam says,’ it feels more like home because not only is my mother in law here, but also because a few of my cousins from Deraa settled here’

Her husband tries to send her some money whenever he can,but it is not enough. . ‘He is working hard as a builder in Deraa,’ Ibtissam says of her husband,’ but I never know when I might receive money from him...at the most its every three months.’

Struggling to feed her small son and daughter, Ibtissam was thrilled when the ICMC outreach team visited her neighborhood in December 2013. The family was found to be living in visibly vulnerable and poor conditions,  with the main source of heat coming from a small cooker. One month after the ICMC visit, Ibtissam was joyous to receive a gas heater from ICMC: This is all I need for the moment’, Ibtissam said ‘this will keep me and my children warm.’ Hoping to one day return to Syria, Ibtissam said that all she wishes for her near future is that she and her family will remain safe.

With funding from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) provided in early 2014 gas heaters and refill cylinders to 825 vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian families. 

Photo Credit:
Two youngsters wrapped up against the cold at the Za'atri camp reception centre. They are from the western Syrian city of Homs
UNHCR/G.Beals