Scottish Catholic Observer

A RELIGIOUS sister has described her life-threatening struggle to reach out to more than 500 families in Syria desperate for basic food and clothing to fend off starvation and the cold.

Sr Annie Demerjian teamed up with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to help 436 families in Aleppo and another 80 in Hassake—cities in the north of the country.

“These families do not get any help [except from the Church] except a small food package each month which is hardly sufficient for a couple of days,” Sr Annie said.

The sister stepped in to help these displaced families following the sudden death of Fr Jules Baghdassarian, who had been looking after them until he had a heart attack in November 2012.

Sr Annie, who had worked closely with Fr Baghdassarian, took up the cause only too aware of the dangers ahead and the increasingly desperate situation so many people were facing.

Thanks to the generosity of Aid to the Church in Need’s benefactors in Scotland and around the world, the charity has been able to give continuing support to vital projects, like Sr Annie’s, and make sure wounded, destitute and sick Christians in Aleppo receive emergency aid as winter bites deep across the region.

Aid packages totalling £156,900 sent out by the charity at the beginning of February, are providing medical help for the wounded, repairs to the war-damaged homes of Christians and basic aid—heating, food and rent money for people on the breadline.

This latest emergency help means that, since the Syrian crisis broke nearly three years ago, the charity’s urgent aid for the region has now topped £2.2m—one of the largest aid packages of its kind since the charity began in 1947.

Amid dire reports from Syria, Aid to the Church in Need pushed through this latest round of help after an urgent SOS appeal from Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, who described ‘the bombing of many Christian homes’ and the vital need to help ‘many wounded people’ in his city, in the north of the country.

At Bishop Audo’s request, £41,200 is going to help wounded people receiving treatment at St Louis Hospital, Aleppo—a project that the charity has been supporting since 2012.

ACN first broke the news to Bishop Audo that it would be helping with medical aid for the civilians caught up in the fighting during the bishop’s visit to the UK.

Throughout Syria, projects of this nature are absolutely vital; Sr Annie described the harrowing situation facing those living in Aleppo.

“Factories have stopped working, many of them have been destroyed and some of them have had their machines and stock stolen,” she said. “The few remaining factories have been shut down and some of their owners have emigrated.

“This has led to high unemployment so that a lot of people now do not have resources and life has become very expensive due to this lack of basic goods and materials.

“Also there are a lot of companies, schools and private institutions that have dismissed their employees because they cannot afford to pay them monthly salaries.”

Although the number of displaced is now more than 3.5 million and the number of refugees is expected to exceed 2.5 million in the coming months, many Syrians want to stay in the cities where they live, in spite of the instability raging around them.

“Despite the dramatically difficult situation people still do not want to leave their homes,” Sr Annie said. “In order not to emigrate, we are trying to help them to survive by securing what is necessary for them in order to live, until hopefully this present crisis may be overcome.”

Aid to the Church in Need is sending £41,200 to fund repairs to war-damaged homes, shops and other Christian-run businesses in Aleppo who are determined to stay in the country—with top priority being given to bomb-blasted windows and doors.

The task is about helping people’s lives to continue normally as much as possible.

“We help some families to find housing and to pay rent because they have lost everything and have no money with them in order to buy food,” Sr Annie said.  “Life has unfortunately become very expensive due to the lack of materials, particularly energy. To obtain gas and diesel fuel, especially in the harsh winter is like a dream. Many people that were comfortably off are now on the poverty line. Our capacity is limited compared with the need that we find facing us.

“That is why we ask you to help us in our mission, so we can continue to help people to survive and overcome the crisis through which Syria is passing.”

Although the war rages on the basic necessities of life still need to be found.

Sr Annie’s order, the Sisters of Jesus and Mary, have just received £74,300 to help up to 500 families in need of gas and electricity for heating and cooking as well as rent money, medical assistance, food and clothing.

In a letter written to Aid to the Church in Need last month requesting help, Sr Annie said: “We feel the massive need to carry on providing assistance to our Christian families threatened with the loss of morale. The assistance will enable us to erase the families’ pain.”

Commenting on the charity’s latest help for the war-torn nation, Neville Kyrke-Smith, ACN UK national director, noted the lack of progress in the Geneva II peace talks, which were set up to bring the warring sides in Syria to the negotiating table.

“There seems to be a terrible impasse in the Syrian conflict,” he said. “Yet, all our efforts, prayers and aid must continue. Now, thanks to solidarity and compassion of the friends and benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need we are providing vital help for those injured in the conflict and trying to rebuild some hope in Aleppo.”

Thanking ACN’s benefactors in Scotland and around the world for their generous help, Sr Annie wrote: “Many people in Aleppo and Hassake, particularly women, children and elderly are expecting us—as workers of Christ—to give a helping hand.

“Without your help, we cannot alleviate their suffering in this misery that we actually undergo in Syria.”

—For more information about Aid to the Church in Need’s help for Syria please visit: www.acnuk.org/syria