Rita is an elderly woman who never imagined having to leave her home behind at this stage in life. But when violence and unrest in Syria threatened the safety of her and her family, there was no choice.

Rita fled her home with her remaining family members and was unable to take anything with her. “I left my home high and dry,” she says. “I am empty-handed. The only son I was dependent on was killed.”

ADRA’s Winterization Assistance program provides Syrian internally displaced persons (IDPs) with winter clothes and blankets to stay warm during the brutal Syrian winter.

Home for Rita is now a school, where she shares a classroom with her grandchildren and several other families. The room offers no privacy and very little protection, and the family struggles through the long winter nights.

“There are no doors or windows in this school, and the cold weather gives me frostbite each night,” Rita shares. “There is only one blanket, and at night my grandchildren and I sometimes warm ourselves by hugging and crying. We left our homes with no clothes and with no hope, and here we are.”

The Winterization Assistance for Syrian IDPs project provides winter clothes and blankets to those displaced from their homes due to the conflict. The project provides much-needed assistance to enable families to cope with the harsh winter conditions faced in and around Damascus.

ADRA Syria provided Rita and her family with four blankets and warm winter clothes for seven people, including the children. She can now stay warm at night and take comfort in the warmth of her grandchildren.