Tanqieh Camp hosts 60 displaced families with a total population of 400 people. The population of the camp consists primarily of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Deir-ez-Zor Governorate and tribes displaced from Al-Hasakeh Governorate.
The IDPs living in Tanqieh Camp face desperate living conditions and rely primarily on tents made from scrap material for shelter. Furthermore, the camp lies next to a valley used for sewage run-off by nearby villages, which poses a significant health risk to the residents. The IDPs in the camp depend on small-scale livestock breeding to provide for their families, and women residing in the camp take on work as farm laborers for additional income. The lack of access to income and extreme poverty of the IDPs living in Tanqieh Camp render them critically food insecure and barely able to meet their most basic subsistence needs. As part of the USAID/FFP-funded Syria Emergency Food Security Program (SEFSP), Blumont responded to the critical needs of IDPs living in this camp by distributing 60 ready-to-eat (RTE) rations, one to each family in the camp, on August 14, 2017.
During the distribution, the field team met eight-year-old Ahmad, whose history is “a typical story of a childhood stolen in Syria.” Ahmad comes from a family of 16 that moved to Dar’a Governorate from Deir-ez-Zor before the conflict, seeking livelihood opportunities. The protracted civil war has left the family without jobs or shelter and prevented them from returning to their home. Ahmad’s family lives in a simple tent, exposed to the elements in both summer and winter. Furthermore, even the most basic daily necessities are out of reach for this large family living with no stable source of income. Due to poverty and harsh living conditions, Ahmad does not have the opportunity to attend school. Searching for ways to spend his time, Ahmad created his own toy from an old vegetable carriage that he found in the garbage near his tent. He shares this toy with his siblings and neighboring children, providing them with a brief escape.
The family’s makeshift tent at Tanqieh Camp.
The RTE Blumont distributed to Ahmad’s family provided emergency food security support to a family living in desperate poverty. The family, who receives regular food aid through SEFSP, expressed deep gratitude to Blumont for the critically needed support. So far, they have received food parcels in January, March, May, and August of 2017.
