Yasmine Halalish lives in Aleppo with her husband, Fathi Moustafa, as the stepmother of three children: Raneem, who needs special health care, Tasneem and Mouhammad Moustafa. Their birth mother died.
Please tell me about the time after the earthquake. Did you receive any aid?
«We did receive aid from Caritas Syria: canned food, hygiene kits and some clothes. The timing was perfect because we could not live in our place during the aftershocks of the earthquake, so we did not have other food available but canned food. Hygiene kits were also very timely and helped us a lot.»
Can you tell the very moments during the first quake?
«When I went to sleep, my husband told me to stop shaking the bed. I told him it wasn’t me. He jumped out of bed, shouted, “earthquake!” and ran to wake the children. We dressed up quickly and ran to the street.»
How is your daughter Raneem doing?
«She is an autistic patient. Most of the time, she is upset and angry; sometimes, I can’t handle her. She has to take specific medicine. Sometimes, the bank of medicine provides us with the medicine, but sometimes, it is not available. Medicine is costly: it costs between 60 and 70 thousand Syrian pounds, and my husband’s retirement salary is 105 thousand. So we face tough times.»
What are your most urgent needs now?
«I have the Mediterranean Sea fever. I need health assistance. I am tired of medicines and physicians, but I urgently need a proper treatment.»
