Emergency Aid for Children Fleeing Syria

A group of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon came together at the Al-Jalil Center to make mittens, hats and scarves for refugee children. Support from MECA enabled Al-Jalil to purchase yarn, provide training, and pay the women for their work. Four hundred children in and around the Bekaa Valley will each get a bundle including a scarf, a pair of mittens, and a hat. Another 300 will be sold by Al-Jalil Center at a special sale to raise funds to expand the project.

Ibtisam spends most of her time at home caring for a disabled sister and her elderly mother.  She joined the group because she wanted to be less isolated.

“I'm proud of my work with Al-Jalil Center and this humanitarian project that will help refugees during winter. Also, I can depend on myself and support my mother and sister.” -- Ibtisam 

With donations from you, MECA was able to partner with Medical Teams International to prepare a 40 foot container with nearly $1 million in medical supplies and equipment for hospitals and clinics in Lebanon serving refugees from Syria and hundreds of hygiene kits for Syrian refugee families. The shipment left Seattle this week and will arrive to Lebanon in six weeks.

The items in the shipment were requested by organizations working in Lebanon. One of the our local partners says:

"Children of Al-Jalil Center found a great partner with MECA based on our shared goals of helping displaced people and those in need. Together, we are meeting basic needs of families from Syria, helping them to survive and live with dignity."

—Ali Taha, Executive Director, Children of Al Jalil Center, Beqaa, Lebanon

We will update you when the shipment arrives in Lebanon!

With your support, we also continue to support education projects for Syrian refugee children who are unable to attend local schools. These informal schools provide more than 250 children the opportunity to access their right to education through classes in Arabic reading and writing, English, math. 

I feel proud and happy whenever I wake up from sleep to go to the center to learn something new every day. I hope to get an official certificate so I can continue in Syria, enter the university, realize my dreams, and help the rebuilding of my homeland.

— Shafak, Syrian refugee, age 13