Amanda Fisher :
For the first time since World War II number of people forced from their homes due to conflict has eclipsed 50 million, a new report by the UN shows.
World Refugee Day was observed yesterday-20th June. But what is life like when you are fighting on behalf of those who cannot fight for themselves? Khaleej Times takes a look at one of the people tirelessly engaged in helping out those most vulnerable people who have lost their homes and livelihoods
Afraa Nouh is currently the Head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) office in Qamishly, inside northeastern Syria, along the Turkish border. The Syrian woman works tirelessly each day to bring food to more than 800,000 people in need in the area – a fraction of the 4 million displaced and hungry Syrians WFP is currently working with.
The former Syrian Ministry of Environment employee joined the programme almost a decade ago, after being struck by the plight of those she saw in rural Syria struggling to stay above the breadline during her government work.
Here she talks candidly about what life is like fighting on behalf of those unable to fight for themselves while her own world crumbles around her, more than three years into a dark war that deepens every day.
Can you explain your role?
AFRAA NOUH : I manage an office of 22 staff and I’m in charge of coordinating assistance in northeastern Syria. While WFP is currently assisting over 4 million people across Syria, in the northeast area we are providing food assistance to over 800,000 people. This part of Syria suffered one of the worst droughts even before the crisis, and did not have the time to recover when it was hit by the current conflict. It has received a large number of displaced people from other parts of Syria. Our biggest challenge in this area is bringing the most needed food assistance to areas that have been cut off for many months due to the conflict. Yet, relentlessly we keep trying, every day.
How long have you been working with WFP?
I have been working with WFP for close to 9 years having joined in 2006 at a time when WFP’s focus was on developmental projects, as well as on an emergency operation during the subsequent drought. Next year, I will be able to say that half of my career with WFP was spent during a time of crisis.
Why have you become involved with aid work?
Before joining WFP, I was working in the Ministry of Environment in Syria. I was responsible for following up on the implementation of a project combatting desertification in Syria. At that time, I visited various rural areas around the country and was in direct contact with people affected by desertification. It was then that I realised that I wanted to do more to help these people and came to understand their immense need for assistance, especially when I met with women from rural areas who were so vulnerable and had no access to help. I thought then that if I could be part of a strong organisation that had the right outreach and capacity, I would be able help these women and make a difference in their lives. That was how I became part of WFP, which is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, and it was with WFP that I was able to approach the problem from a wider perspective and address it with concrete plans reaching those in need.
I started working under a project to support small scale farmers and herders in rural areas and I am still in the same area helping people affected by yet another crisis – civil war.
What is a day in your life like?
Everyday when I wake up, even before I have my breakfast and whenever the electricity is on, I watch the news quickly to get hold of the latest updates that could affect my work, then I head to the office. I am usually there very early, ahead of everyone in my team as I live 10 minutes away from the office.
On a typical day, before my colleagues arrive I answer my emails, list the priorities of the day and I assign tasks to my staff for various purposes like monitoring distributions, food dispatches from the warehouses, contacting the Damascus office to check on the arrival of food trucks at the borders or in our areas, or following up with our partners on their changing needs.
Most often, affected families come to the office seeking assistance, so I also spend part of the day listening to them and responding to their questions and needs. However, most days do not go smoothly and I have to constantly adjust and adapt depending on the emergency of the day. A different emergency everyday has become the norm on any typical day; At the end of the day, I go back to my list and check what we have achieved and what still needs to be done and plan for the next day. At home, I continue working and following up over the phone with partners and colleagues and go to bed by midnight, after checking that all staff are safe and ready for another day serving those who depend on us.
How has the crisis in Syria affected you personally?
Like every other Syrian, the crisis has affected me personally in a drastic way. Most of my family lost their homes and fled Syria, some now live in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Only my brother’s family remained in Syria (after my brother passed away few months ago), though they are now displaced after being forced to leave their home and flee to Tartous city. Whenever possible, I try to visit them there, but roads are not always safe.
Social visits and outings have disappeared from our lives. Even if I think to visit a friend, I cannot because our movement is now restricted by the fighting and the absence of safety on the roads.
At the same time, the crisis has changed me in a good way. I have stronger ties with my neighbours, relatives, and friends. Now that I see them less and we can only communicate remotely, I check on them more often.
The crisis has also fostered my resilience and brought out strengths that I did not know existed in me. As they say, if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger.
Did you ever imagine when you were growing up that your country would find itself in its current situation?
I am 42 years old. I never imagined the country would ever be where it is now. I did not see this coming.
Can you tell us about your own personal situation, where in Syria are you from?
I come from the Golan Heights in Qunitra governorate, where my parents come from but were themselves displaced from it many years ago. I was born and raised in Damascus and I grew up hearing my mother say non-stop that she wishes to go back to her home in Golan. I never thought that I would see the day when I uttered the same words or have the same feeling that my mother had; hoping and longing to return to or visit the family’s house in rural Damascus, even for a while.
What are the hardest things about working with victims inside Syria?
The safety of my colleagues and the people we serve is my biggest worry. Ensuring that we assist people without endangering them is not just a daily task but an ongoing concern every minute.
What are the greatest rewards about your job?
By far, the smiles on people’s faces and the look in their eyes, and ‘thank yous’ that we get are what motivates us to wake up in the morning and keep doing what we do. The reward is simply knowing that our efforts are saving lives. I find my life and my work extremely challenging, but with challenges comes strength and resilience. I have no doubt that things will get better sooner or later and this hope gives me the strength to continue to assist those in need, to stand by them in these difficult times, alleviate their suffering, and hopefully create a spark of hope that their sorrow will end soon.
Can you explain the difficulties of trying to do your job, while life is falling down around you?
There are numerous difficulties, starting with ensuring we have basic services at the office, such as electricity, water and the internet, to be able to carry out our jobs.
In Qamishly and Hasakeh, electricity supply is non-existent, communication services are rarely working, and the banking sector is dysfunctional. To give you an idea, the office operates on generators all the time and we use Turkish sim cards for our mobile phones. Such solutions take time and effort and have an immense impact on our humanitarian response that needs to be rapid and efficient.
The Governorate is almost isolated. Roads leading to Deir Ezzor or Al-Raqqa governorates are mostly closed. Our only way to travel outside Hasakeh is by air (that is if we are lucky to find a seat on flights, given the huge queues at the airline office.
Delivering food assistance to Hasakeh is a big challenge as the governorate can now only be accessed by air, and food deliveries are more costly – but have been necessary in recent past months. Thankfully, through the agreement of the governments of Syria and Turkey, an access point on the borders of both countries allowed the first humanitarian convoy to deliver much-needed food from Turkey, which is a more sustainable option. Once the food arrives, we face another challenge in distributing the food as the numbers of people in need is much larger than what we can provide. I always say that food in Hasakeh is more precious than anywhere else, because it gets there with huge difficulty.
Do you find some solace in throwing yourself into the productive task of work?
Yes. It is only through being productive, seeing the concrete results of my efforts, and knowing that I made a difference that day that I can manage to sleep at night. This gives me self-satisfaction and a feeling that regardless of the challenges and the deteriorating situation, I am still able to do good. In the midst of all the killing and the bad news, I know that as a humanitarian actor, I am – to a certain extent – alleviating some of the impact of the crisis; even if for one person that is good enough. When I see that needy people who have lost their ones are assisted, I feel that in one way or another, I am helping my own family who are now far away.
How do you think this ongoing conflict will play out over the next couple of years?
I hope that this crisis ends soon and that the war stops. I hope I can soon be part of the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts that would allow people and my family to come back.
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