Winter supplies distribution to Syrian refugees – Day 1

With the mass movement of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, Orphans in Need felt compelled to deliver much needed aid to the widows and orphans who had congregated at the Jordanian border. Our team member, Sa’id, went from London to oversee distribution. This is the first part of his story:

Arrived in Amman airport at 17:00. Prayed as the sun was looking to set in the beautiful Arabian horizon.

The brother behind the counter at the airport informed me Jordan was playing a very important football match against Uruguay (a place in Brazil for the World Cup at stake).
Beautiful to hear the adhan (call to prayer) for Maghrib aloud in the airport.

Was picked up by a rep from Al Imdaad who took me to the Syrian border to meet the team and the distribution centre.

The biggest match in Jordan’s history. The country came to a standstill. They were so excited. They lost 5-0… But they celebrated like it was a victory because it didn’t go into double figures!

Met up with the Al Imdaad Jordan team and volunteers. They were so welcoming, I felt like they were long lost family!

I was shown the blankets, hygiene kits, food parcels and other essentials that were going to be distributed. Amazing quality, preparation was professional and research to what was really needed for those who fled Syria.

We received a call that hundreds of refugees had just arrived into Jordan from Syria. They urgently needed blankets as it was very cold. Although we are used to the temperature, this was out of their comfort zone and they were freezing.

The moment it hit me was when we saw a child who couldn’t have been older than 3 years old lying on the hard, freezing floor with a blanket we wouldn’t even consider giving animals to warm up in.

Imagine leaving your home and belongings with your family, unable to take anything with you and not having a clue where you will be the next day let alone in the future.

After we had completed the distribution, we decided to prepare more blankets for the following day. Finished just after midnight. This consisted of a number of us working as a team to unwrap the blankets from the massive packaging, folding them into the bags, zipping them up and placing our stickers on them for the authorities to know they were legitimate.
We must have packed hundreds in that time, just what was needed after dinner!

Stayed at the family’s house who built the distribution centre on their land. So hospitable it puts me to shame how I treat my visitors…