MCC distributes COVID-19 kits in Middle East

Refugees and other displaced people living in the Middle Eastern countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria already were struggling to subsist before COVID-19 became a health and economic threat.

They fled violence in several African countries and in Syria and Iraq and sought safety in towns and countries where they thought they could stay safely for a while. With few resources, they primarily work as day labourers when jobs are available and live in the least expensive housing they can find.

In Lebanon, many refugees live in “buildings on top of buildings and very tight cramped living conditions” where they are at risk of virus transmission because of the density, said Garry Mayhew, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) representative for Syria and Lebanon. Mayhew is from London and his wife Kate Mayhew, also a representative, is from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We are trying to secure less things for them to worry about. That list is already too long.”

- Alex Azar, MCC program officer in Jordan

In addition, he said, refugees may not have funds to buy basic hygiene items like soap —especially since lockdowns prevent them from earning money through informal work. Many lack access to health care and COVID-19 testing.

In response to these needs, MCC’s partner organizations distributed 18,000 COVID-19 hygiene kits in Syria, 2,000 in Lebanon and 928 in Jordan. The partners identified people who were most in need.

Each family-size kit included items that were purchased in-country, such as hand sanitizer, soap, masks and household cleaners that reduce the risk of contracting the disease. Information about how to prevent the spread of the disease was also included in the kits.

A young girl (name withheld for security reasons) from a rural community near Al-Humayra, Syria, stands next to a COVID-19 hygiene kit in April. She is holding a flyer explaining how to best use the included items to protect her family. Photo courtesy of FDCD

“With these kits, I can teach my children to stay clean and stay safe to avoid getting the coronavirus,” said Zahrah Jabri, a Syrian refugee living in Amman, Jordan.

To avoid transmitting the coronavirus through the distributions, partner staff used personal protective equipment, including gloves and masks, provided by MCC.

The largest hygiene kit distribution took place in war-torn Syria, with MCC partner Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (FDCD) distributing kits in April and May to internally displaced families in conflict areas, including the city of Aleppo.

More than nine years of war have left more than 6.2 million Syrians internally displaced throughout the country. They are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 due to the collapsing economy and lack of a functioning health care system.

In Lebanon, MCC’s partner Popular Aid for Relief and Development distributed kits to Syrian refugees living in 11 gatherings (unofficial camps) in the cities of Beirut and Tyre. The gatherings lack access to government services and the refugees suffer 80 per cent unemployment.

A staff member from MCC partner Popular Aid for Relief and Development (PARD) distributes a COVID-19 hygiene kit to a community member in Tyre, Lebanon, on May 1. Recipients are residents of a low-income neighbourhood, the majority of whom are Palestinian and Syrian refugees. Names are withheld for security reasons. MCC photo/Olivia Osley

In Jordan, Collateral Repair Project (CRP), a refugee organization, distributed kits to refugees from Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, as well as displaced Syrians not living inside government-supported camps.

They must figure out how to survive in crowded, poor areas of Amman (the capital) in “terrible” conditions, said Alex Azar, MCC program officer in Jordan. “Some will have one bedroom and a bathroom as a home for two families, if not three.”

Families who were especially vulnerable, including those without a father and those who have a person living with a chronic illness, received a kit in April and July. In addition, 80 families determined to be severely in need were given $50 USD monthly food vouchers for four months to use in local grocery stores.

Azar said the economy is already starting to reopen. Meanwhile, he hopes the kits and vouchers will help sustain displaced people in need.

“We are trying to secure less things for them to worry about," he said. "That list is already too long.”