Not a day goes by when Mariam doesn’t mourn for her beleaguered country.
The 30-year-old fled to Jordan from Syria nearly two years ago and now lives in a tent her brother made from scraps of material other people have thrown away.
‘Every morning I wake up and grieve,’ she says. ‘I cry over the ruins of my country.
‘We fled to Jordan because we had nothing to lose in Syria but our souls. Everything at home was destroyed and burned down. The whole situation was intolerable.
‘We had snipers everywhere, at every corner. We needed to survive, to seek a safe haven, so we travelled to Jordan.’
Mariam escaped among a group of 20-30 other refugees, taking 13 hours to leave Syria. She now lives with her brother and his wife in extremely basic conditions.
Million refugees and counting
Her passion to return home remains undiminished: ‘I hope to go back to Syria but it’s going to be many years before we can go back.
‘I learn about the situation in Syria from what people tell me. It is difficult to find out what’s happening there. I just want to go home and live in peace.’
Tearfund partners are helping thousands of refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, providing them with essentials such as blankets and wood burning stoves.
But the need for help is growing as more than a million people have now fled Syria and that figure could treble by the end of the year, according to the UN.
To help people like Mariam rebuild their lives and eventually return home, please give to Tearfund’s Syria appeal here.
This Thursday, 14 March, Tearfund is joining with other agencies, such as Save the Children and Oxfam, to hold a candlelit vigil for Syria. Please join us to pray for peace. Download our vigil guide here and also our prayer for Syria here.
- Names have been changed for security reasons