An Update from Damascus

April 12, 2018.

When thousands of children and families finally left the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta after enduring years of conflict – we were there.

We met people malnourished from years of deprivation, children who lost their moms and dads, and thousands more with deep emotional and physical wounds.

Providing refuge to these disoriented and fearful families was our first priority. Our first response was to organize a large transition shelter to host more than 12,000 people.

...MORE

Resolute Women are the Future

February 26, 2018.

What is the role of women in conflict?

Hundreds of thousands of young men in Syria have died or have been forced to flee to avoid being drafted into a war they do not want to fight. Young women have stepped into the void and now make up over half of our team in Syria.

They're distributing clean water, rebuilding shelters, educating children, and growing into a force for peace. Young women are redefining what it means to be female on the front lines of war.

...MORE

A Plumber's Toolkit

January 29, 2018.

Abu Munir lost a son in a bombing, and then lost his livelihood when he fled his home. He was forced to move into a single room with his wife and four surviving children. When they needed a bathroom or a kitchen, they relied on the kindness of their neighbors.

When our staff first met Abu Munir, he was still reeling from the death of his son. He cried more than he spoke, but eventually he opened up. He told us he had been a plumber before he was displaced.

...MORE

A Year in Review

December 29, 2017.

For 30 years, we’ve walked alongside two sets of friends: those whose lives were suddenly devastated by war or slowly stifled by poverty, and those like you who help them get the crucial relationships and attention they need to survive and thrive.

Connecting them to the tools and resources they need to begin anew. And recognizing within each person her inspiration, his hope, for a life worth living.

Our heroes are our Syrian staff and volunteers who risk their lives for others every single day reaching out to their neighbors and communities – places most devastated by the...MORE

Elias

December 27, 2017.

The only things 11 year-old Elias took with him when he ran were the clothes he was wearing and four pencils.

With bullets flying past their front door and slamming into their house, Elias and his family were forced out of their neighborhood by street fighting. They fled their home in a Damascus suburb for a refugee camp just across the Syrian border.

It's been three years now in that camp. Elias misses his house, his games he left behind, and his grandma and grandpa – still in Syria. He asked us to tell everyone in the world, “please don’t fight.”

For tens of...MORE

Ghada

December 19, 2017.

One of the accomplishments you can be most proud of supporting is the 30,000 women who are currently active in therapy groups organized by our Syria team in communities and shelters throughout the country.

Among those efforts is Hear My Heart, a therapy space for women to support one another that is led by trained facilitators. It is also a way for our staff to understand women's needs and worries so we can better serve them and their families.

Hear My Heart helps women and girls like 15-year-old Ghada, who fled Aleppo with her family more than two years...MORE

Sandra

December 8, 2017.

When Sandra first arrived in Damascus two years ago, she barely spoke.

Sandra's parents are both missing. It was her grandmother who brought Sandra and her five siblings to Damascus, to escape fighting near the city of Homs.

When Sandra began attending programs at one of Questscope's shelters, staff there noticed her condition.

"Her grandmother explained to us that she suffered from a speech impediment, and her situation had deteriorated since her parents went missing because she did not receive the required care," one of our staff members at the shelter...MORE

The Berlin Pilot Program

October 30, 2017.

Refugees from Syria are seeking haven all over the world. Germany has taken in more than 300,000. Many are teens who came on their own. They have lost nearly everything that matters to them. Still they are eager to integrate.

They need help navigating a foreign land. They need help learning the language and finding a place to belong. To assist them, Questscope is launching a new pilot program in Berlin.

...MORE

A Champion at Strike Three

September 28, 2017.

A family with no education. Strike One.

A family in need of a few more dollars, just to make it. Strike Two.

Quitting school to work in an aluminum window company. Strike Three.

Or is it?

Zakaria dropped out at age 14 to get those few more dollars for his family. Working all day bending aluminum into window frames for clients’ kitchens left him no time for friends. Or for school. Shy. And quiet-spoken.

His employer, Abdullah, also had Strike Three against him. He went to work at an early age instead of going to school, and he...MORE

Finding Home

August 31, 2017.

The war in Syria is now in its seventh year. Legions of people have had to flee in order to survive. Thousands of families have been forced to leave behind everything they’ve known.

They've lost the houses and neighborhoods they called home. More devastating, they've lost the people and communities they also called home. Those who survive find themselves caught in a cycle of unrest and uncertainty. 69% of Syrians inside Syria are living in extreme poverty. 

We're working every day to help those displaced by violence and persecution...MORE

Pages