Winter Woes

I had trouble sleeping on Sunday night. Gale-force winds and freezing rain rattled my windows and howled through the unsealed frames. By morning, the deluge hadn’t subsided; I picked my way carefully down the marble walkway out of my apartment building, wary of slipping on the frozen surface. Above me, a piece of metal dangled from one of the balconies, torn free by the wind. Outside my office window, the cedars bowed. As I watched them, I thought, “Za’atari”.

When you’re working in an emergency, you don’t view weather the same way. Your thoughts inevitably turn to the affected people, especially those who’ve been displaced by the crisis. I watched the wind and wondered how the tents in Za’atari refugee camp, 80 km outside Amman, would hold up. I didn’t need to speculate about the rain; it was obvious that there would be flooding. When colleagues gathered around the coffee machine to swap horror stories about their commutes to work, I said, “Za’atari”, and everyone winced.

So it was no surprise when the reports started coming in: flooding, collapsed tents, relocation. Equally depressing, and even less surprising, was the news that riots had broken out in the camp. Aid workers distributing food were mobbed and pelted with stones. Seven were injured.

This is becoming a pattern in Za’atari camp, and I have to be honest – it’s pissing me off. I can’t imagine how miserable, how frustrated, how powerless the refugees must feel. I can understand wanting more assistance, better assistance, quicker assistance. But for the life of me, I can’t understand how that translates into aid workers being the enemy. How on earth are those camp employees responsible for the wind and rain? They aren’t responsible for the violence that forced the refugees from their homes, either. The refugees are angry that they live in tents. OK, but the tents are the best shelter that can be provided on the budget available. Who’s to blame for that? The donors, for not providing more money? Bashar al-Assad, for not stepping down? The Free Syrian Army, for continuing to press its attack during the winter? All of the above, perhaps, but humanitarian workers? I don’t get it. It makes me mad.

The rain is still at it today, with more forecast for this week. It’s the same in Syria, where aid workers have very little reach. Misery heaped upon misery, and the winter is only half done. I’ll think about that the next time I feel like whining about how cold it is in my unsealed apartment.