General Photojournalism – Page 2

According to Mercy Corps, for whom I have a shot a great deal of refugee-related work, “the Syrian conflict has created the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Half the country’s pre-war population — more than 11 million people — have been killed or forced to flee their homes. Families are struggling to survive inside Syria, or make a new home in neighboring countries…At times, the effects of the conflict can seem overwhelming.”

Overwhelming, indeed. I can say this because I’ve been there, several times. To Iraq. To Lebanon. To Greece, To Jordan. The photos below are a smattering of one such trip shooting inside Jordan’s huge refugee camps, Zaatri and Azraq. The conflict in Syria goes in and out of the news. If you are interested in a really good primer on what this conflict is all about, read the excellent one on Mercy’s Corps’ web site. And, if you want more background on the stories behind some of the people you see in these photos, take a look here.

December 13, 2016 – Jordan. Azraq Refugee Camp. Yasmin, 21, is a facilitator at a Makani Center (Mercy Corps youth safe space) in Azraq refugee camp. She, her husband and their infant son escaped from Syria after a their house in Daraa was bombed. She says working at the center has helped relieve her depression after a prolonged and difficult journey from Syria. Children wait at the gates of the center for it to open every day. Children in Azraq endure so much stress, says Yasmin, and the center gives them a place to play and feel valuable. “We rebuild the routine they had in Syria here in Jordan, and treat the kids as though they are at home.” Hanin, 11 (brown striped sweater) and Fatima, 11, met at the youth center. They are both refugees from Homs. They both say they love Yasmin. “She entertains us and encourages us to be together,” Hanin says. “We can’t be without her.” Hanin’s favorite activities at the camp are arts and crafts, and Fatima loves jumping rope. Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 14, 2016 – Jordan. Zaatari Refugee Camp. Zaatari, Jordan Azeh, 12, attends the Makani Center (Mercy Corps youth safe space) near her home in Zaatari Refugee Camp nearly every day after school. At the youth center she participates in life skills programing with her favorite teacher, Khawla. Azeh and her family came to Zaatari from Daraa in 2012. The youth program helps Syrian refugee adolescents develop communication, self esteem, goal setting, team work and leadership skills. Additionally, computer classes and physical activities are offered. Khawla, Azeh’s favorite teacher, says the center is important because she and the other facilitators can help combat gender-based violence and early marriage. She was a teacher at home in Daraa, Syria before escaping to Jordan in 2012. Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 15, 2016 – Jordan. Al-Torah, Jordan Faisal and his family of 8 used a Mercy Corps voucher to buy clothes and supplies for winter and to pay bills. They say the house is very cold in winter, and west-facing so they don’t get much light or warmth. When the temperature goes below freezing, the whole family sleeps in one room with the one gas heater they own. The utility company had turned off the family’s electricity because they had been unable to pay the bill for seven months. Using the voucher the family paid the overdue bills and restored their power, as well as buying warm clothes for the children (Sham, 10, and Ibrahim, 2 are pictured), repaired their broken gas heater and bought a tank of natural gas to fuel it. Faisal’s wife, Amal, says that when the weather is cold and wet the children used to stay home from school because they would get too wet on the walk and there’s no heating in the school. Now with the warm clothes, she says “the kids have no excuse not to go to school.” Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 11, 2016 – Jordan. Zaatari, Jordan Azeh, 12, attends the Makani Center (Mercy Corps youth safe space) near her home in Zaatari Refugee Camp nearly every day after school. At the youth center she participates in life skills programing with her favorite teacher, Khawla. Azeh and her family came to Zaatari from Daraa in 2012. The youth program helps Syrian refugee adolescents develop communication, self esteem, goal setting, team work and leadership skills. Additionally, computer classes and physical activities are offered. Khawla, Azeh’s favorite teacher, says the center is important because she and the other facilitators can help combat gender-based violence and early marriage. She was a teacher at home in Daraa, Syria before escaping to Jordan in 2012. Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 15, 2016 – Jordan. Amman surrounding communities. Sareeh, Jordan Abeer, 13, attends a Makani Center (Mercy Corps youth safe space) in Sareeh village near the border with Daraa, Syria. She and her family fled Daraa three years ago to Zaatari refugee camp, but they couldn’t stay there because they didn’t feel safe. They settled in a host community. Abeer was a good student in Syria but had to miss a year of school because of the war. At the Makani Center, Abeer took informal education classes in order to catch up and transition back to formal school. Now she is in 8th grade and says she wants to be a doctor or lawyer when she grows up. Even though she is in school, she still attends the youth center regularly, participating in life skills sessions and English classes. “School is for education,” she says, “but this [youth center] is for yourself.” Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 11, 2016 – Jordan. Zaatari, Jordan Malak, 15, attends school in Zaatari thanks to Mercy Corps’ inclusive education program. The director of the school initially said she couldn’t enroll because the school wasn’t set up to accommodate her small size. Born with severe scoliosis and dwarfism, Malak stands barely two feet tall. Mercy Corps team members intervened with the principal, and Malak has entered the sixth grade at the school. Through Mercy Corps’s program, Malak attends regular classes and receives occupational therapy and academic support. The team also built a desk for her that fits her perfectly. Sean Sheridan photograph, for Mercy Corps.

December 12, 2016 – Jordan.

December 15, 2016 – Jordan. Al-Torah, Jordan Abdelrahman and his family of 11 used a Mercy Corps voucher to buy a gas heater for winter, as well as warm clothes for the youngest of the family’s 8 children. Abdelrahman was a truck driver in Daraa before the family escaped the war. “It was a luxurious life compared to here,” he said. “I used to work, and we had income. There, we had enough to cover the essentials.” Abdelrahman’s wife, Wafa, says the teacher called from school and asked “Why isn’t your daughter wearing a coat?” But she says she has 8 children and couldn’t buy a winter coat for just one of them. They used the Mercy Corps voucher (worth 453 Jordanian Dinars) to buy winter coats, jeans, pajamas and socks. The family dreams of immigrating, and when their son tried on his new coat for the first time he said, “We’re ready to go to Canada!” Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

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December 11, 2016 – Jordan. Zaatari, Jordan Yousef, 15, attends the Makani Center (Mercy Corps youth safe space) near his home in Zaatari refugee camp nearly every day before school. (The boys’ school shift is in the afternoon in Zaatari.) Yousef and his family came to Zaatari from Jordan in 2012. Sports are Yousef’s favorite activity in the center and he has become an avid football player and wrestler. He credits the activities at the youth center for helping him out of the sadness he felt when he came to Jordan. Yousef’s father, Kamal, and his wrestling coach, Farhan, both describe him as a self-motivated kid who can be a good athlete and a good friend. Yousef says he wants to be a coach when he grows up. Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 12, 2016 – Jordan. Zaatari, Jordan Yousef, 15, attends the Makani Center (Mercy Corps youth safe space) near his home in Zaatari refugee camp nearly every day before school. (The boys’ school shift is in the afternoon in Zaatari.) Yousef and his family came to Zaatari from Jordan in 2012. Sports are Yousef’s favorite activity in the center and he has become an avid football player and wrestler. He credits the activities at the youth center for helping him out of the sadness he felt when he came to Jordan. Yousef’s father, Kamal, and his wrestling coach, Farhan, both describe him as a self-motivated kid who can be a good athlete and a good friend. Yousef says he wants to be a coach when he grows up. Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.

December 11, 2016 – Jordan.

December 14, 2016 – Jordan. Zaatari, Jordan Joury, 12, participates in arts and crafts at a Mercy Corps youth safe space. She came to Zaatari with her family from Daraa four years ago. She wants to be a painter when she grows up, and says she has learned to draw by coming to the youth center. “When I am thinking about anything, I like to draw it. I feel comfortable when I draw,” she says. In this image she drew a scene from a trip she took to Irbid, Jordan with her grandmother. She says the love this view she saw there, and especially remembers the garden and trees. Sean Sheridan photograph for Mercy Corps.