“If you hear only two or three explosions it’s okay to send your kids to school, but if you hear hundreds of bombs dropping outside, then they had better stay home.” Syrian women Rahaf Abdo says the routine bombing of her country is as regular as weather and is but one cause of the widespread poverty that has ravaged the land.

Rahaf AbdoAbdo works in Syria as both a university IT professor and a food program coordinator with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) and MCC. The latter brought her to Steinbach’s Grace Mennonite Church on October 11 to share her story of relief efforts in the face of tragedy.

“We always try and help the places that nobody helps,” states Abdo, who indicates her partnership with CFGB and MCC provides aid to areas of Syria other global relief agencies are unable to access.

Using funds and donations supplied to her by these two organizations, Abdo’s job consists of buying local food and medicine to make supply baskets which she then distributes to 6,000 impoverished families every month. She says deciding which specific 6,000 families get these care package is nearly impossible.

“Choosing between the people is the worst part of my job,” stresses Abdo, “because you know all of them are suffering”. She indicates that families with many children, serious diseases, and poor shelter are typically the first to receive the care. Nevertheless, this kind of decision led to what Abdo calls the most heart-wrenching moment of her entire life.

Abdo speaks with a Syrian family whom Grace Mennonite Church sponsored about a year ago

Abdo explains that a slow in funding made MCC and CFGB reduce the number of baskets they were able to hand out forcing her to cut one family off of the support they had been relying on. In order to sustain this family, their only son joined the military where he was killed a few months later.

Though Abdo admits it can be difficult for people in a privileged community like Steinbach to grasp this raw reality Syrians face every day, she feels it is important to share her experience and let people know that the prayers and money they raise locally can help globally.

Abdo confesses that traveling between Canadian communities and sharing her story has been a nice break. She comments that it is often incredibly difficult to return to the suffering that awaits her in her homeland.

“Sometimes I feel like I should stop because this affects my private life a lot,” says Abdo, “but I love my country and I love the people there. They just need help. I know they will stand on their feet again.”