Safaa’s daily struggle as a mother
The war has left its scars on the land—and on the hearts of the people. For Safaa*, a mother of four living in a camp near Aleppo, life has been a daily fight for survival since 2018. She fled Idlib with her family, seeking safety in a new place, but the conditions in the camps are harsh.
“The cold winds cut through the tents in the winter,” she says. “The floors are muddy, and there’s no way to stay warm.”
Her children are at their most vulnerable, and Safaa struggles to keep them safe. “They need warm clothes, shoes, and coats. Often, we don’t have enough to eat. Sometimes my children go to bed hungry,” she says quietly. “It’s heartbreaking. There’s no easy way to describe what it’s like. You’re doing everything you can, but it’s never enough.”
Until recently, the lack of access to healthcare was another thing that kept Safaa up at night.
“We used to worry that one of our children might get ill,” she says. “There’s no health center and hospitals are very far away. Then I got pregnant with my fourth child, and I became even more afraid because there was no transportation available.”
CARE and partner organization Violet helped alleviate this fear by providing transportation between camps and Al-Amal Hospital. It changed everything for Safaa.
“When I learned about the transportation, it felt like a new door to life had opened for us. It has been a lifesaver for all women, especially for my children.”