East Tyrolean association

Charitable aid for children and widows in Syria

The children are grateful for any help.(Bild: Verein Bildung bringt Frieden)

Three Syrian camps have been supported by an East Tyrolean association for years. Donations are used to provide children and widows in particular with basic necessities.

There are many calls in Austria to send people from Syria back to their home country as quickly as possible. An initiative by the East Tyrolean association "Education brings peace" shows that many people think differently. For the past three years, the association has been supporting a total of 715 children, widows and elderly people in the Maryam, Yousef and Simeon camps to the west of Aleppo.

Over 1.2 million people live there in tents because their homes have been destroyed. There are no jobs in this area, neither for men nor for women. "This means constant hunger and water shortages, as every drop has to be paid for if there is no well," explains the association.

Hassan Abo Ali looks after the camps with the support of Osttiroler Hilfe. His wish: to become independent of donations from Austria. To make this possible, a tree nursery was financed in which he grows 80,000 fig cuttings, olives and dates.

The association donates jogging suits with "Danke Osttirol" written on them.(Bild: Verein Bildung bringt Frieden)

"If possible, sales should raise money for a plate of lentil soup for everyone each day and, in the long term, a brick-making machine," explains the association. A drip irrigation system is now a goal in order to drive the supply forward.

"In October 2024, however, the delivery car for water and all other vital items were destroyed by a Russian drone," it says. Around 150 families could get by with the "little sisters of Maryam" through self-sufficiency. New ones keep coming to the camp, as recently as 2024 after an earthquake.