In March the first signs of spring are visible in the Beqaa Valley.
While the temperature could be rather comfortable during the day, as there might be several days of sunshine, the temperatures quickly go below zero after sunset in the first period of March. Winterization items where still distributed in March, but as of the 31 th in the month all winter distributions were concluded country wide.
For Abri Aid it meant that our focus in the upcoming months would mainly be within medical assistance as well as preparations for the upcoming winter starting late fall.
To provide adequate shelter assistance for the most vulnerable refugees the preparations need to start early. This year we are hoping to deliver a larger number of plastic sheets to Syrian families in major need of shelter rehabilitation in the Beqaa Valley. In March, we therefore inspected several areas intended to receive this assistance from Abri Aid. Several camps were identified as critical, where tents surly would not survive another winter.
Whereas several tents stand in risk of collapse once a new storm sets in, there was also identified severe issues related to shelter and hygiene. Shelters where toilet facilities where of such poor standard in conjunction to the current state of the shelters, resulted in major challenges. Refugees where therefore living, among others with sewage leaking into their tents.
To deal with these issues Abri Aid used this spring to start planning the upcoming interventions with local partners.