‘We need more’

The crisis in Syria is rapidly spinning out of control.

Nearly two years into the conflict, the numbers of dead and displaced have risen sharply in recent months. According to UN estimates, 60,000 Syrians are now dead, 700,000 have fled the country, two million are displaced within Syria and another two million need humanitarian assistance.

The crisis remains the top-priority disaster response for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), as it has been for a year. The situation in Syria is “worsening dramatically,” says Bruce Guenther, head of disaster response for MCC.

A particularly harsh winter is compounding the suffering. “People are cold,” Guenther says.

In a graphic reminder of the realities of war, he also says partner organizations are asking for more diapers, as kids pee their pants more when bombs drop around them.

Amid the violence and suffering, MCC is scrambling to provide food, blankets and other resources—including diapers purchased in the region—to a dozen partner organizations, mostly churches and peace groups with which MCC has long-standing ties. These partners are working desperately to provide the basics of life to people in some of the hardest hit areas of the country—including Homs and Aleppo—as well as to refugees in neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon.

MCC’s message to donors is simple: “Thank you for what you have done so far,” says Guenther. “We need more.”

Guenther says MCC is spending money as it comes in, but it is hard to say no to partner requests when resources fall short. To date, MCC has received $778,000 in cash donations—$400,000 of that from Canadians—as well as significant in-kind donations. The total value of MCC’s response to date, which draws on designated funds as well as general donations, is $3.5 million.

The international response to the Syrian crisis has been limited. Until the international community pledged $1.5 billion in aid last month, the UN had received only 3 percent of the funding it had requested. Analysts warn that countries do not always honour pledges and, when they do, the process can be slow.

The other key issue is access to areas of intense need within Syria. Guenther emphasizes that, while MCC does not have its own personnel stationed within Syria, it is privileged to work with Syrian organizations that not only operate with courage and integrity, but do so in some of the areas where access is most difficult.

One such organization is the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch.

In an e-mail message to MCC, Archbishop Matta Roham says that firewood collection is now destroying the forest of old trees in the national park in Hasaake in northeast Syria. “I asked those who were cutting and carrying the wood why they do this,” says Roham, who visited the park on Jan. 15. “The answer came: ‘We are poor and we have nothing to live [on]. The weather is very cold and we need to warm our houses and make our living.’ ”

Even as the humanitarian needs continue to increase, MCC country representative Sarah Adams says that MCC partners are already looking at helping people heal from the trauma and psychological damage resulting from this prolonged conflict.

Syrian Orthodox bishop Jean Kawak says of the situation, “The impact of the crisis will not be limited to the absence of food or shelter. Neither will it be limited to the physical damages of today. . . . The bigger impact will be the psychological one. The current generations are being taught that the language of weapons and power prevail. It will take years to reduce the psychological damage this crisis has caused to our children.”

With files from Gladys Terichow, MCC Canada.