We’ve spent the last two days in Mafraq at Pastor Nour’s church.  Mafraq (which means crossroads in Arabic) is a city of about 60,000 on the Jordan/Syria border.  Since the conflict started in Syria in 2011, refugees have flooded the town.  Today, approximately 15,000 refugees live inside the city (the main camp, al-Zaatri, is only a few miles away).  Rent prices have skyrocketed and, unable to work, the Syrians are forced to live in terrible conditions.

Pastor Nour began his mission when there were fewer than a hundred refugees.  He started distributing the most basic essentials to people: mattresses, pillows, and gas stoves.  As the situation worsened and the number of refugees increased, he too increased his efforts.  Today, he has a community of both Jordanian and international volunteers and cooperates with major NGOs like Mercy Corps to continue his community outreach program.  With the donations we raised, we purchased 600 one-pound tins of powdered baby milk and another large shipment of diapers and women’s sanitary pads to be distributed through the church.  In fact, Lexi was able to hand out some of these items today to a group of 20 Syrian women.  They also selected clothing for themselves and their families from the bags we sent you pictures of last time.

The process begins when the church registers new refugees as they arrive to Mafraq.  They hold distributions at the church (like the one Lexi helped with), taking care to ensure that people are treated with respect and dignity. People have lost everything and it is humiliating to have to beg for simple things like second-hand clothing and milk.  In addition to distributions, field workers visit individual family homes to check in on them, bring supplies, and lend an ear and a shoulder for support.  Several volunteers mentioned how important it is to Syrians to host visitors—perhaps because hospitality is such a deeply ingrained part of the culture.

Pastor Nour showing us the renovations of the new community center.

Pastor Nour's church in Mafraq.

Young boys outside of the soon-to-be community center.

Sorting items to get ready for distribution.

We’ve spent the last two days sorting supplies and accompanying the field workers on their visits.  The situation varies from family to family.  The first family we visited arrived from Homs, Syria three months ago.  Over Arabic coffee, they told us about the situation in Homs, their loved ones who were injured or killed, and their homes that were destroyed.  Like most Syrians, they were processed through the Zaatri refugee camp.  Although food, tents, medical care and schools for children are provided by the United Nations, many choose to leave because of poor conditions, security concerns, or maybe the humiliation of living in a camp.  Syrians can go only if they are sponsored by a Jordanian or someone living outside the camp.  With so many new arrivals, the cost of living in Mafraq has increased dramatically so it’s hard to know whether they’re better off in the camp or on their own.

This became quite clear this afternoon when we accompanied one of the Jordanian volunteers to visit newly-registered refugees.  After leaving the camp, each family (or group of families living together in most cases) is eligible to receive a ‘starter package’.  This includes mattresses, blankets, pillows, a gas stove and gas canister. The amount of assistance provided depends on how many members are in the family, the family’s financial situation, and amount of help they’re receiving from other charities.  One family we visited lived in a storefront that was divided for privacy with UNHCR-issued blankets.  Another, a family of four, lived in a concrete room with no bathroom behind a large animal corral.  While a Jordanian church volunteer verified the families’ information and needs, we passed out small gifts for the children (colored pencils, crayons, drawing paper, and sweets).  We will return tomorrow to each of the families we visited today to deliver the starter packages and spend time with families.  It’s late so we can’t write more.  We’ll send another update tomorrow with pictures.  Thank you again for all your love, support, and donations!

Hello from Amman, Jordan! First and most importantly, thank you again for all of your support and donations—we passed $9,000 in total donations yesterday!! Lexi and I landed Friday evening and went straight to the apartment we’ve rented for the week. The manager of the property, Sama’an, met us and took us out to eat hummus, falafel, and other Arabic food we’ve been missing. It feels great to be back in the Middle East and speaking Arabic.

Yesterday morning, we met up with a group of Mercy Corps volunteers to shop for second-hand clothing to bring to Mafraq tomorrow.  Our team was made up of two Jordanian-Palestinians, three refugees from Eastern Syrian near the ruins of Palmyra, a documentary filmmaker from France, and a Syrian-American from California. With our eclectic group assembled, we went from shop to shop, filling huge sacks with used clothing. Suha, the lead negotiator, would introduce herself and explain that we were buying supplies to bring to Syrian refugees. It seemed the bargaining tactic was to introduce the Syrians next. Abdul-Salaam did the talking: a mixture of joking, cajoling, and appealing to the owner’s generosity, religion, and hospitality. People here have mixed feelings about the refugees: they are undoubtedly a strain on the economy and bring security risks but almost half of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin and thus relate to the refugee experience. In the end, the shopkeepers always relented. We bought hundreds of pairs of shoes for less than $3/pair, at least a thousand sweaters and shirts at four for $1, about 350 pairs of jeans for under $1.50 a pair, and a few hundred pairs of socks and underwear (new).  Moved to generosity and impressed by the sheer amount that we purchased, each shop owner threw in an additional bag (at least) of merchandise free of charge.  By the end, we had about 25 large sacks full of clothing (see pictures below).
All of the Mercy Corps volunteers and the Syrians in particular were incredibly appreciative of the support of our donors. The group faces a number of obstacles: there is no official UN funding for refugees who are living outside the refugee camps (where conditions are very difficult), they can’t raise money directly due to Jordanian restrictions on NGOs, and any goods shipped in to the country are taxed heavily. With the two of us on the ground to withdraw the cash and purchase items directly, we’ve been able to ensure that every dollar you donated went to buy needed items. In fact, we signed and kept copies of every receipt.

Purchasing used clothing in the markets of Amman.

Sorting shoes by sizes, keeping all pairs together for easy distribution.

Before and after!  Over $2,000 worth of used clothing and shoes and new underwear and socks! 

The team goes shopping approximately every 10 days but it is entirely dependent on when they have donations to finance their purchases. The scope of the need is incredible: thousands of Syrians cross in to Jordan every day, most coming with only the clothes on their backs (there are now over 500,000 refugees here). In-kind donations are difficult because they are of mixed quality and sometimes of questionable appropriateness (Suha mentioned donated miniskirts, espresso machines, and even wetsuits). Furthermore, they must be sorted and washed—Suha told us her kids began wondering why half their apartment was buried in clothing for other people. The clothing we were able to buy has all been cleaned, folded and prepared for sale by the merchants.

Tomorrow, we will drive up to Mafraq with other Mercy Corps volunteers. While we are both excited to deliver the truckload of clothing and other items, we are preparing ourselves for stories of terrible suffering. One of the Syrian volunteers told us his brother has been missing since May after being arrested for helping wounded opponents of the regime. Another, a driver, told us that he was imprisoned and tortured for over a month and a half after being caught bringing Syrian refugees to Jordan. The Syrian soldiers holding him captive debated killing him before deciding to leave him for dead in the desert. Somehow he made it to Amman and is now doing what he can to help his people. Many more stories surely await us in Mafraq. But we’re glad to be able to bring meaningful assistance to Syrians because of YOUR donations. Thank you again for all of your love and support. We will send another update when we have been to Mafraq.

The support and kindness that we have received from you over the last two and a half weeks has been incredible.  To date, we have raised $8,820.  Thank you so much.  We are leaving tomorrow night on a 10:30pm direct flight to Amman, Jordan.  Everything has been organized, reserved, purchased and even shipped in some cases (see below) and we are ready to go.  This is our first update.  As promised, we will be writing to all of you over the next week to keep you updated on our progress and to shed some new light on a very sad conflict.

So here is the schedule.  We will spend Saturday and Sunday in Amman shopping with a few local volunteers.  Catherine (Director of Resource Distribution at Mercy Corps and our amazing contact who has helped us every step of the way) has identified a few of the most needed items for Syrian refugees living in and around Mafraq, Jordan (see map).  She and local volunteers have established a network of dealers who sell items in huge quantities which are then sorted and shipped north.  We have already ordered a shipment of powdered milk and formula that is being delivered to Mafraq on Tuesday.  We’ll additionally be buying second-hand clothing and shoes for adults and children and sanitary items (i.e soap, diapers, feminine hygiene products).  To give you an idea of the amount that is needed, between 2,500-4,000 refugees arrive in Jordan each day and there are hundreds of thousands of people already there.  After we purchase the items, they’ll be sent to Catherine’s sorting center where we will help to organize them and load them into trucks to be shipped north.  We will then drive to Mafraq and spend the following days distributing items and visiting with families.

It is going to be very difficult but Demetri and I are excited to be able to help.  We’ve talked with Catherine quite a bit about the state of affairs.  People are really traumatized; many are wounded, and the situation is truly getting worse each day.  A little goes a long way and the fact that we’ve raised close to $9,000 is just incredible.  The impact of what we’ve all been able to do is going to be immediately felt and we are really looking forward to being your eyes on the ground.