This is the latest posting from Lynda on Facebook.
UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! Firstly - No more things please. If you have stuff you have sorted out, please keep it for now. I have just come back from the family's house. It is now stuffed with things,. I must say, that normally hard as nail old boot that i am. I was fighting not to cry while I was there. The house is appalling. It is just two rooms, a tiny kitchen with no work top a sink and a toilet no bathroom. Plenty of running water though, leaks all over the place. They will struggle I think to sort out all the things you've given them. They will start tonight. The mum and dad were so grateful. The dad speaks some Turkish it seems he spoke more tonight, so interpreters were not necessary - he even understood my Turkish. The 12 year old can speak a little bit of Turkish. The baby is adorable. Toddling around with a big smile. The have a soba,so they are warm, but it is very dangerous because the room is so small and the place so cramped my heart was in my mouth every time the little ones passed it. The door has to be open because otherwise everyone would suffocate. The floors are all damp where water leaks in everywhere. The family appear to be perfectly legal, this will reassure those people for whom this appeared to be the burning issue. The father is waiting for his work permit and the paper work has been submitted for the school age children. Later we will need school supplies if anyone has them. The dad has been getting some work (building) and he says he is well paid, but the work is sporadic. They have electric and had saved the money to pay the bill. They came from somewhere outside of Damascus, near the Turkish borders and had tales of ISIS attacks and oppression. Anyone listening would have been touched by the stories, but the stories were simple and un elaborated, for those people for whom these things are important, the stories had the ring of truth. I wavered back and forth from fury and fighting back tears. They are paying 250 lira per month for this vile hovel and the biggest thing they need now is a new house. Murat has kept the money that was donated for now, so he can set up a sort of support fund until the father is working full time. If we can find a better house for them, we will somehow find the money to pay the extra rent from this fund. Some people have said to me, to Yakup and to Murat, why is everyone helping these people. There are plenty of Turks with no money and no shoes. This is true. But that is the thing about charity isn't it? it is the people standing before you that touch you the most. 5 children who have endured goodness knows what horrors fleeing ISIS and the fighting and leaving everything and everybody behind, Parents just trying, like we all do; to give their children the best they can. Your kind responses to the appeal have provided these people with things they couldn't hope to buy, like shoes and clothes and bedding. The father's meagre wages have so far provided the most basic foodstuffs, wood for the soba and savings for the electric. The children need fruit and vegetables and protein, they are all living on rice and pasta and bread at the moment. Although I am saying they don't need more stuff, they still need our support. There are thousands of people like them, but these are the ones standing before us. Sorry this is so long- the family send their love and thanks to everyone.
