Since the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, we have seen an inequality in the amount of aid being distributed to each state, with Syria receiving significantly less help. As a consequence, we have been running a Syria Earthquake Victims Appeal to raise funds for those in the worst affected areas. After connecting with doctors in Jebleh, Latakia, one of the worst hit areas in Syria, the Head of NCF UK, Jaafar El-Ahmar, used these funds to buy medicine and travel to Syria on Friday. Below is his account of the day:

Friday 24th February 2023

Long day:

I left Beirut at 6:30 AM and arrived in Damascus around 9:00, where another car was waiting for us heading to Jableh and Latakia. The transport was provided by our friend Siwar. We passed by Homs, Tartus and arrived in Jableh around 13:00. The Highway we drove through was very good. It was interesting to notice that the lands on the sides of the highway from Damascus to Homs are dusty, and seemed to me that we were driving through a desert.But the land on the two sides of the highway from Homs to Jableh and Latakia looks green, as if Spring is coming early there.

Our friend, Dr Fawaz Baddoure, was very helpful and he asked with very short notice, one of his students, Dr Ghassan Abboud, to join us in Jableh. Dr Ghassan toured us around Jableh. He took us to a sheltering centre, a high school, where around 95 families who were either evacuated or fleeing their damaged homes, took refuge.Dr Ghassan is a volunteer, with other charities, helping these families. I met some volunteers from two charities in this Center: Syrian Youth Council and Alareen Humanitarian institution. The 1200 students of this school were accommodated into another school, (with two shifts).

The Challenges are immense and well beyond the abilities of the council in Jableh or the government, as the devastation is huge. Fear among the people of Jableh led 60 to 70 percent to leave Jableh, most of them left to their relatives in the Reef, the countryside of Jableh. As the area there is still witnessing more earthquakes people are very terrified. Although many buildings look that they survived the earthquake, a deeper look shows that they are affected badly. So, the agony of the few who are staying (as the have no place to go) is double: they stay in their houses with a constant fear of a possible earthquake that will destroy these house. Many of these families sleep in their cars on the sides of a dual carriage way. The psychological impact is immense. 

In Jableh, most of the houses are affected, either destroyed or damaged and needs rebuilding. The need now is for proper temporary accommodation, like ready made units, because rebuilding houses will take a long time. This process is also costly, while the government budget as you know is limited. And the people themselves are unable to rebuild their houses, as they are already suffering for survival before the earthquake, from high inflation and short of money. The inflation hits badly the prices of all building materials, and in fact everything, from their daily life needs: food, medicines etc. Another problem is electricity shortages, as the power comes two to three times a day, each of one hour. This shortage is badly affecting almost everything here.