Over 11 years of conflict in Syria has killed hundreds and thousands of people, including women and children. The standard of living has been set back by decades. Roughly 6.9 million people are displaced within Syria while 6.8 million have been forced out of their country – which amounts to more than half of the country’s population in distress.
More than 70% of Syrians live in poverty. Millions have lost their livelihoods and are unable to meet their basic needs including access to food, clean water, and health care. The children of Syria are the most affected. Many don’t know life outside of war and will be forced to face the long-term effects of physical and mental trauma. As Muslims, it is incumbent upon us to help our brothers and sisters suffering across Syria.
Problem in Syria
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred near the northern Syrian border in southern Turkey on Monday, February 6, at 4:17 a.m. local time released energy roughly equal to 8 million tons of TNT. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the same area nine hours later. Although Syria has been at war for more than ten years, few nations are lending a hand even after the massive tragedy. Although it is impossible to pinpoint when the uprising turned from a predominately peaceful protest movement into a militarized rebellion, armed clashes became increasingly common, and by September 2011 organized rebel militias were regularly engaging in combat with government troops in cities around Syria.
- 13 Million Syrians are forcibly displaced.
- 90% of the population lives below the poverty line
- About 13,000 CHILDREN have lost their lives to violence.
- 2.4 Million children are out of school.
- 6.8 Million refugees are spread throughout the Middle East.
- Child abuse and exploitation is common in refugee camps.
- 60% of Syrians suffer from food insecurity.
We Need YOUR Help
Thanks to you, we’ve been able to accomplish so much. But there’s still so much more to do. By continuing to support our efforts in Syria, you can help make a difference in the lives of those in desperate need.
Marketing Incentives
The ATA Humanitarian Service team believes that unity is the foundation of success. To effectively raise awareness and funds, it is pivotal to enforce a unified community that will work together to reach goals and to join all of our hands to extend a helping one to Syria. Before we can get into our methods, we must understand our goals: to raise awareness of the tragedies going on in Syria, to supply people with available resources and options to help and to consolidate our communities through the one bond of ministration. Our main incentives were: through word of mouth, online promotions, support from businesses, and selling goods and services.
1. Word of Mouth: We let all of our family and friends know about our cause, encouraging them to donate and spread the word to others. We hung flyers, which contained information about the situation and different ways to donate, around our schools and masjids and passed them out to both people we know and don’t know. At school, we went from class to class with a donation box to raise whatever few dollars each student had on them and did a presentation during assembly to give visual aid of what is happening. In our Masajid, we also made announcements during Jumuah’s and set up donation boxes.
2. Online Promotions: Through online promotions, we made flyers and information slides and posted them on our school’s Instagram and Facebook accounts through posts and stories. Additionally, we contacted a variety of different companies, influencers, MSAs, and organizations to repost our posts and stories.
3. Support from businesses: Coming out of Detroit and Hamtramck, we have a plethora of family-owned ethnic businesses surrounding us. We contacted these businesses and visited them to gain their support as well. We asked them for donations, permission to post our flyers on their walls, and requested to leave a small donation box on their counters. That way, we would be receiving support from both them and their customers.
4. Goods and Services: As well know that one of the best ways to raise funds is through the selling of goods and services. People love to receive something in return for their support, and this incentive does just that. We held hot lunches and bake sales, bringing in food and snacks from our own homes and then selling them to other students. We also made handmade ribbons, using the colors of the Syrian flag ( red, white, green, and black ), and sold them at school and to businesses. Furthermore, our schools has uniform and students love being able to dress up. We used this as an opportunity to raise awareness by having students pay 3 dollars to dress up in the colors of the Syria flag. This way, we raise money and represent Syria.
Campaign Goals
Specific: The earthquakes in Turkey and Syria were unexpected tragedies the world was not expecting. Being a country that was already struggling with war and poverty, Syria has now lost over 5,000 lives in this tragedy, leaving many of the survivors without families and homeless. To assist the people of Syria, our goal is to raise money to buy food, clothes, and resources to help alleviate the worries of the Syrians.
Measurable: The ATA Humanitarian service team aims to raise $1,000 for Syrians affected by poverty and tragedies that have plagued the country for decades. Once our goal is achieved, we hope to collect even more money from those who want to support our cause.
Achievable: Raising $1,000 for Syria will not be difficult for our team as we have already raised over $800 with only donations. After completing our fundraisers, we most likely raise $1,000, our goal amount, for Syria.
Relevant: After the destruction that resulted from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes, many countries pledged to help with the search for civilians and send aid to the survivors. However, while Turkey has received overwhelming support from the international community, Syria has received little to no help. Although shocking, this is no surprise as Syria has always been pushed to the side by the international community because of the constant war, poverty, and airstrikes because of war, poverty, and airstrikes. Helping Syria during these tough times, especially after the destructive earthquakes, is a moral responsibility upon all of us.
Time-bound: By March 12, 2023, the ATA humanitarian service team hopes to receive over $2,000 in donations to help the people of Syria.
