A woman waits for a Red Cross food parcel in Rural Aleppo after fleeing her home in Raqqa.
CC BY-NC-ND/CRC/ M. Alzoubi
Simply surviving from day to day in the midst of conflict is desperately hard for people who lived simple, peaceful lives before.
@IFRC/ I. Malla
Offering comfort and psychological support to people who are displaced or fleeing danger is a core part of the work of SARC volunteers.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/ R.Daoud
Latakia on Syria’s western coast has become home to one of the biggest displaced communities. Many of the displaced are living with host families. Feeling safe, this little girl finds time to play and smile
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/A. Alkhatib
This couple fled to Tartous to escape fighting and now live in a tent. "I sold all my belongings to move my sick husband to Tartous, and nothing is left to buy him medicines", the wife explains.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/H. Vanessian
Distributions of aid are often a lifeline for families where there is no bread winner.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/H. Vanessian
In the chaos of conflict it is often the elderly who get forgotten. Regular visits from volunteers help the women in this old people's home in Aleppo to feel less alone.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/H. Vanessian
When health services break down everyone is more at risk. Here, a medic examines an injured child at a SARC health post.
The women portrayed in the following photos come from different parts of Syria. All of them, from the eldest grandmother to the youngest child, have been touched in some way by the humanitarian crisis which is now entering its fifth year. Their stories are of loss, fear, relief at reaching safety after fleeing from danger, and of the innocence glimpsed in their children's smiles. Theirs are the stories of Syrian women everywhere. And all are united, too, in their strength and dignity in the face of great adversity.
