Christmas is fast approaching and tis the season to be jolly! We gather with loved ones in the comfort of our homes, we enjoy some good food plus the giving and receiving of gifts. But it’s also a time when the plight of others comes into stark focus and we are reminded of those both home and abroad for whom Christmas is not a particularly happy season.
This Christmas refugees will be longing for peace.
Turn back the clock to 2012 for example, when the first few families started arriving in Lebanon, fleeing the civil war in Syria, no one knew where it would end. The hundreds turned into thousands, tens of thousands, and now there are more than a million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. Some of them are in low quality accommodation in the poorest and most run down areas of the capital Beirut, while others live in terrible conditions in the unofficial camps that run along the Bekaa valley.
A woman called Rima is one of the lucky ones though. She fled Aleppo when ISIS took control, turning the local vegetable plots into battlefields. Her father died of a stroke after her village was bombed while one of her brothers was imprisoned and tortured for smoking a cigarette. He died in a later bombing, but the family already knew they had to flee if they were going to survive. She now lives with her mother, brothers and sisters in a run down, two-room flat in an informal slum in Beirut. They have no running water, erratic electricity supply and no way of earning a living to pay the rent.
As with so many refugees, Rima’s family have to rely on the generosity and support of strangers and charities like Embrace the Middle East, who have been providing essentials for refugees in Lebanon since the crisis began and this Christmas will be no different.
In the bitter cold of a Lebanese winter, refugees need fresh bedding, mattresses and blankets, as well as clothing and stoves for warmth. With no way of earning a living, they need food parcels or vouchers to feed themselves and their families. For many mothers with young babies, help might come in the simple but essential form of nappies to take the place of plastic bags, often the only thing available. And in the dirty and unsanitary conditions, items such as a toothpaste and soap can seem like luxuries.
But most importantly this Christmas refugees like Rima will be longing for peace. She has dreams and hopes for her children’s future; that they have the chance to go to school, make a life for themselves and even return home. But none of this will be possible while the conflict continues. Until then, hope for refugees might have to come in the form of a warm blanket, a bowl of rice or a supply of nappies.
You can support a refugee this winter by buying one of UK charity Embrace the Middle East’s special Alternative Advent Calendars. Behind each door, every day you will find one of life's necessities such as a pair of gloves, a loo roll or fresh milk; that bring hope and help to those living far from home. You can get your Advent calendar here: https://shop.embraceme.org/products/alternative-advent-calendar and all of your money will go to supporting refugees across the Middle East.