Halima in her newly rehabilitated kitchen and in front of her fixed window. (Photo Credit: Joelle Bassoul / CARE)
Written by: Joelle Bassoul
‘When we first came here, I used to put my son behind on my motorbike and drive daily to the border, which is very close, to show him the Syrian flag on the other side,’ says Abu Ahmad* sitting in the small courtyard that separates his two-room home from the kitchen and bathroom corner.
Abu Ahmad crossed the border into Turkey seven years ago, fleeing the war in Aleppo with his wife and six children, now aged between 21 and 11. He settled down in Kilis, a small town of 93,000 people that hosts 130,000 Syrian refugees. ‘We miss our country badly, but what is there left of the Syria we know to go back to?’ adds the 47-year-old teacher.
Two of his sons found jobs as tailors to pay the monthly rent (300 Turkish lira, or 75 USD), and his wife Halima works in the fields from time to time earning 30 Turkish lira (7.5 USD) for nine hours of work. The family has a hard time making ends meet, and can’t afford moving into a better house. ‘This used to be a goats’ pen’, he explains, pointing at one of the rooms. ‘The landlord took them out, and I repainted the walls to make it livable,’ says Abu Ahmad.
According to Halima, there was no kitchen or separate bathroom. Dishes, clothes, and bodies were washed in the same corner of the courtyard, with the used water being evacuated through a hole in the ground. ‘It was very difficult. I was crouched all day long, doing laundry and dishwashing,’ she says. The toilet, set in a tiny separate bloc at the entrance of the home, was not connected to the water system.
To improve Abu Ahmad’s family living conditions, CARE rehabilitated his home. A team of engineers and contractors put a sink and tiled floor in the kitchen, changed broken windows and doors, put tiles and a shower in a new bathroom separate from the kitchen, and linked the toilet to running water.
Abu Ahmad’s home is one of the 400 that will be rehabilitated by CARE in Kilis by August 2018. The project, that started in November 2017, includes another two components, one targeting the external rehabilitation of buildings (stairs, walls, roofing, electrical wirings), and the other aiming at upgrading communal spaces such as parks and community centers in coordination with the municipality of Kilis.
‘We are planning on installing washing machine rooms in community centers, used by both refugees and local residents, in areas of high population density. We will supply the equipment and the municipality will bring the washing powder,’ says Ali Kaya, CARE’s project coordinator.
‘It is so much better now. I wash the dishes with ease,’ says Halima. Abu Ahmad adds, laughing: ‘She even tells me to go take a shower several times a day.’
*Names changed to protect identity
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