On World Refugee Day, meet a grandmother who is amongst the thousands fleeing Syria every day.
Um Mohammed became guardian to three of her grandchildren, after her son died in Syria’s brutal crisis.
“I asked my son not to leave me, but he went to see our house in Hama,” Um Mohammed told us, when we visited a camp on the Turkish border. “His house was damaged, and his grocery shop too. He was killed in the bombing. I don’t know whether he was buried or just left on the side of a street. Only God knows. All I’m certain of is that he left me three children, Alhamdulillah.
“I arrived in the camp three months ago,” she said. “We escaped the village while bombing and fighting continued. Shrapnel was all over the place, we didn’t know where to hide. We went with other families – five families in one car – until we reached the camp.
“I don’t know where to go and how to manage with no money, no food, and no house. My disabled sister needs constant medical care and she is getting worse.
“I don’t have anything except God – may he grant us strength and patience.”
Islamic Relief provides a lifeline for families like Um Mohammed’s. They received essential items – including a food parcel – designed to offer some relief from the hardships of life in the camp.
Last year alone, our emergency programmes in Syria crisis and nearby countries reached around 2.72 million people. As the violence deepens and the humanitarian situation deteriorates ever further, we want to reach many more. With your help, we will.