CNA<\/a>).- It was the end of March when the violence in Syria became unbearable for Salwa, a young mother who lived in the besieged city of Homs with her husband and four children.<\/p>\n\tAfter more than a year of almost daily bloodshed, she and her family left behind everything they owned, and fled Syria with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing.<\/p>\n
\tThey crossed the border into neighboring Jordan, where they finally found safety in the town of Mafraq. There, with the help of Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Jordan is helping families like Salwa\u2019s get through the crisis.<\/p>\n
\tSalwa told Caritas Jordan volunteers that she\u2019s grateful her family is safe, but that her children are still fearful. \u201cWhenever they hear fireworks\u2014often part of local wedding celebrations in Jordan\u2014they fear that the violence has followed them from their home in Syria to Jordan.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tCRS helps thousands of Syrians affected by crisis<\/p>\n
\tThe violence that erupted in Syria in March 2011 has spiraled into a tumultuous, terrifying conflict and has led to paralyzing fear for innocent civilians\u2014many of them women, children and the elderly. It\u2019s unclear exactly how many Syrians have been displaced by the fighting, but the United Nations estimated at the end of May that at least 500,000 Syrians had fled their homes for the safety of neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
\tAs the crisis worsens and more Syrians are forced to flee their homes because of the violence, CRS is expanding its relief efforts. Longtime partner Caritas Jordan, for example, is working mostly in the northern Jordanian towns of Mafraq and Ramtha to provide basic necessities as well as medical care to thousands of Syrian refugees.<\/p>\n
\tBoard member Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who has traveled around the world on behalf of CRS, visited northern Jordan in late June to meet with Syrian refugee families and witness firsthand the work\u00a0 being done.<\/p>\n
\tDignity and gratitude
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cIt is a blessing for the tens of thousands of families who are forced to flee from the tragic violence in Syria to find food and medicine, and most of all comfort and solidarity, from CRS and our partners here in Northern Jordan. I am thankful for the generosity of our benefactors who make this possible,\u201d Cardinal McCarrick said.<\/p>\n
\tIn addition to the more than 150,000 Syrians who have already made it to across the border, Caritas Jordan volunteers report that hundreds of Syrians continue to arrive daily.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now is a very real need for medical assistance,\u201d said Wael Suleiman, executive director of Caritas Jordan.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe have a staff of about 30 volunteers who have been working tirelessly to assist the refugees with food, water and basic necessities, but now we\u2019re seeing refugee families in need of medical attention. We\u2019ve documented cases of people with chronic physical diseases, and those who\u2019ve been severely traumatized by what they\u2019ve experienced. These people need medicines, medical monitoring, as well basic medical equipment that we hope to be able to provide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tKevin Hartigan, incoming regional director for CRS in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, said that the \u201cSyrian refugees we met in Jordan had lost everything, and many spoke of their lost loved ones. But their dignity and warm gratitude for the medical and material support provided through Caritas Jordan was humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tStory reprinted with permission from CRS.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tLiz O\u2019Neill is CRS\u2019 communications officer for Asia. She is based in Baltimore, Maryland.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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Baltimore, Md., Jul 8, 2012 \/ 04:56 pm (CNA).- It was the end of March when the violence in Syria became unbearable for Salwa, a young mother who lived in the besieged city of Homs with her husband and four children.<\/p>\n
\tAfter more than a year of almost …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-africa"],"yoast_head":"\n
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