"We gathered twenty volunteers. We divided the tasks among us. we said we will not fail. The first day started with a fear in our eyes. We cried and our morale was raised the next day when the aid arrived."
This is how a young man in the Help Group describes the beginning of the "No Hunger" campaign which has been organized by 20 volunteers to deliver the Iftar meal to families in need.
The campaign was launched from the heart of the Ummayyad Mosque in Damascus and delivers 1,200 Iftar meals daily.
On the Facebook page for the campaign, the youth volunteers write their feelings about the campaign and the difficulties they face every day.
They also post the phone numbers to call for help as there is so much demand.
The volunteers said they were worried in the early days of the campaign of being unable to continue their work until the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, given demand, but, according to their declaration that "we will not fail," they managed to fulfill their promise.
One of the participants spoke about the nature of the campaign, saying "we refuse financial aid and we only accept food, which we direct to those who will cook it. We supervise the preparation together then deliver the meals according to lists coming from prominent Damascene residents."
The Help Group said the initiative has prompted a sense of solidarity in Damascus. The campaign became well known in Syria, then in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, so Syrian youth in these countries have began to organize similar campaigns.
The "No Hunger" campaign has also brought Syrians from different backgrounds together, and because the security forces didn’t interfere until now, it also made Syrians abroad feel less lonely.
According to Louay, who now lives in Istanbul, the civil society campaigns organized inside Syria make migrants feel unable to help, especially during Ramadan which has special rituals.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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