‘In Syria’s situation – torn by conflict fuelled by ignorance, division and religious sectarianism – as a father and husband I had to decide whether to stay in the country I love or emigrate for the good of my family.

‘Several months ago I bought plane tickets and I began sorting things out for our departure, but, in my heart of hearts, I was not at peace, even though I had the chance of a job in Beirut. I felt I had a to do something for my people and my country.

‘In that moment things in Aleppo, the town where I live, weren’t so bad but everyone thought they would get worse. And, indeed, the situation quickly went down hill.

‘To begin with, I thought that my wife and children should go to Beirut and I would stay on my own in Aleppo. But my wife didn’t agree: “Either we all go together or we all stay!” In this way instead of leaving the country to be safe from chaos and death, together as a family we chose to stay.

‘I’m not the kind of person who prays much, but in that moment I felt God was asking something of me. I went to Church and I handed over my life and the life of my family to him: “Our future is in your hands.” I was filled with a tremendous inner peace despite the tension I felt.

‘Together with some Christian friends we tried to understand the needs of our community and we attempted to do what we could, even in little ways. One day, while I was doing some repairs on the Church, I found myself talking to the parish priest about the difficult circumstances many families were living in and the problems they had finding milk for their children. Straight away we started looking for this basic foodstuff, but there was none left in the markets. In the end we managed to get hold of four cartons. How could we ensure there was milk for the children of those middle class families who were now without income? Without any particular plan in mind we started making a record of the needs. To begin with, we had as many as 300 families on our list! We immediately asked for donations, and got only 300 Syrian pounds (equal to 4 US dollars). It was impossible to do anything with such a derisory sum, but it was at that very moment when someone, who had found out about the situation, stepped in to cover all the immediate needs through Caritas Syria!

One day I got together a food hamper. I did it as if it were for my own family. Then I took it to someone who, full of surprise, refused it. But when I said, ‘I prepared this hamper for myself and what is mine is yours,’ the person was deeply moved and accepted what I offered.

‘In the meantime, the needy families were on the increase, going from 300 to 1,500, so that we could no longer be certain of getting things even just to supply their primary needs. We thought, then, of asking for aid from the ‘Red Crescent’. When they asked whether we help people of all religious groups,  by chance a person was present who knew the Centre for Deaf and Dumb Children that my wife and I run and this person knew that we care equally for Muslims and for Christians. That same person made a sign of acceptance to the one in charge of the Association who then gave us permission to have access to their warehouses. We’ve been incredibly surprised by the huge amount of help we’ve received!’

Jean – Aleppo

Source:  Città Nuova online