Syria: Caring for siblings amidst grief

When conflict tears apart communities, it’s not only lives that are lost but also hopes and dreams.

After nine years of ongoing conflict in Syria, millions of people have been displaced, many multiple times within Syria’s borders.

What’s more, over seven million men, women and children have fled to safety in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

When forced to flee their homes, families are sometimes separated from each other; in the worst cases, family members die. Many childhood dreams are shattered as roles and responsibilities within the family change.

When we met 16-year-old Ayesha from Syria, we soon discovered just how much the war had changed her and her family’s life forever.

Conflict in Syria: Devastating families

As Ayesha huddled around her five siblings, there was no sign of their parents.

We learned that their father had been killed in the Syrian conflict. Ayesha’s mother then remarried.

After their step-father disappeared, Ayesha’s mother found it too difficult to cope and abandoned Ayesha and her younger siblings.

Ayesha was left alone to care for her five brothers and sisters. She was only 12 years old.

Ayesha took her siblings from camp to camp until they reached Lebanon. Living in a refugee camp run by the UN, and working any job she could to earn enough money to feed her siblings, life was extremely tough. She worked as a cleaner, but sadly she wasn’t always paid for her work.

When the children became sick, Ayesha wasn’t able to look after them, despite having sacrificed her education at such a young age to provide for her siblings.

Like any teenager, she simply wants to live a normal life for someone her age without such continuous struggles.

Islamic Relief: Providing shelter and hope