Ataa Association for Humanitarian Relief is working to implement a project to insulate the tents provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the area of Dana and Maarat Misrin in northern Syria. More than 2000 families will benefit from the project. The project focuses on rehabilitating the tents to be habitable in winter and summer seasons, as they will be insulated internally and externally in addition to ground insulation.
The tents isolation project, according to its official, Engineer Nizar Al-Bustani, aims to support the most vulnerable families by improving their living conditions through insulation activities to protect their tents from various harsh climatic conditions in winter and summer alike.
Mr. Al-Bustani said that the project of implementing the insulation of the tents is based on two phases : the first phase assesses the most basic needs of the areas that will be targeted through coordination with the concerned authorities from other humanitarian organizations working in the same sector to prevent any conflict from occurring, and to identify the most needy families in the camps that have achieved eligibility criteria. In addition, awareness teams visited the targeted camps to conduct project introductory sessions.
As for the second stage of the project, it begins with the implementation of the insulation of the tents, the installation of insulation rolls and their installation on the walls of the tent internally and externally by a specialized team working on preparing the floor of the tents and raising its level to 20 cm from the surface of the ground, and paving it with bricks from all sides to prevent rainwater from leaking into the tent, as well as to prevent the entry of reptiles and insects, which will contribute to securing a safer and warmer shelter for families in the camps.
The tents isolation project is considered one of the most important projects in the camps area in northern Syria, and this assistance is provided to the displaced people in conjunction with calls for help by the camp residents and those responsible for them, after significant damage to tents and property occurred due to the rainstorms that cause hundreds of tents to sink.
For his part, Saddam al-Ahmad, who was displaced from the village of Abu al-Duhur in Idlib countryside, and is currently residing in al-Tayboun camp, confirmed that the conditions of the camps in northern Syria are very bad, and that the great majority of families live in random camps that need insulators for their tents to protect them from weather and geographic factors due to the flow of water. He considered that the muddy floor constitutes a major obstacle when rain falls for the camp residents, as well as most tents are worn out, roads are cut off, and the people are unable to bring their most basic needs, such as water, food and heating materials.
Al-Ahmad said: “We used to suffer from great difficulty due to the entry of water, cold air, insects and reptiles into the tents, which caused a state of fear and panic among our children during their sleep. Now that the Ataa Association presented to us insulators and worked on maintaining the tent, paving the floor, lifting it from the ground and putting cement on its surroundings, my damaged tent has been converted into a habitable tent.
Ataa Association for Humanitarian Relief has been working since its establishment in 2013 in the tents and housing sector as a humanitarian and development organization, and has launched many major projects such as residential communities that preserve human dignity as an alternative to tents.