Homes for Families in Syria
Nearly 3 million people were displaced in Syria. They lived on the dirt in crowded camps in tents. These tents were designed to last one year, and yet, were in use for 3 or 4 or more years ending up in tatters or patched and repaired beyond recognition. They were cold in winter and sweltering in summer. At least a third of these tent homes were headed by single women with children who made up half the population in northern Syria.
Families desperately tried to survive in dilapidated tent homes that were miserable in summer without any protection from disease-carrying sand flies, snakes or scorpions
Winter is its own sort of hell when the cold rain arrives; the tents became flooded and they offered no insulation from the freezing temperatures. Families were forced to walk outside in the cold mud and snow to use a communal bathroom with no security.
We Provided a Solution
Mercy-USA instituted a better way to provide a dignified life for these families. We built solid, insulated semi-permanent homes that featured windows and doors that lock, a bathroom, a kitchen—all raised above the ground to protect the inhabitants from the floods that ravaged these camps every year.
We Built Hundreds of Homes For Desperate Families.
All four of Om Sobhi’s children were born in a tent, (see above). She and her husband were displaced from their home and farm in the early years of the war. They struggled to survive in a tent that grew more and more tattered with each year. (These tents were designed to last one year.) She cooked outdoors on an open fire year-round. In summer, the heat was stifling since keeping the tent flaps open meant disease-carrying sand flies and other pests would plague them through the night. In winter, the drafty tent did not keep them warm. Winter floods often meant all their bedding got drenched as mud and water poured in. When her husband found day labor (earning just a $1.50 a day), Om Sobhi and the children were vulnerable to anyone who wished to enter their tent home.
Their new shelter was raised above the ground, it was insulated from cold and heat, with a kitchen, sleeping/living room and private bathroom. The children were able to play, study and be safe at home. She told us, “It’s a hundred times better than a tent; it’s cleaner and it's warmer in the winter. The windows and doors don’t allow the wind or cold in. Also, its secure! We can lock it down.”
Features of These Innovative Homes:
- Durability: 10-15 years of hard use
- Full insulation from cold and heat
- The structures are waterproof
- High privacy and sound isolation
- Easy to repair or improve.
Mercy-USA provided needed accommodations for persons with disability or mobility issues.
The homes were installed above ground to avoid flooding that plagued the camps for years.
Environmental Impact
Mercy-USA recognizes that it is crucial that we take steps to mitigate the effects of climate change in all that we do to help people. This project, like all our projects, will be implemented in ways to reduce our carbon footprint and empower the communities we serve with the knowledge and resources to respond to climate change. The materials used in these shelters were 95% recyclable, and more importantly, these shelters were designed to last 10-15 years, compared to tents and their poly sheeting that had a lifetime of one to two years in the elements.
A wastewater management system was installed so water was reused for hard irrigation (trees). This was an important tool as it saved large amounts of water and directed it towards agricultural/irrigation purposes