If we lost this assistance and didn’t get water from Oxfam, we would be facing another crisis.”
Imm, a refugee from Syria, lives with her family in a settlement in Lebanon.
A regular water supply in Lebanon
Oxfam Lebanon has been helping Syrian refugees – like Imm – for the last four years, providing clean water, building toilets and setting up handwashing facilities in more than 200 informal camps.
Here Imm tells her story.
Imm's story
Back in Syria we lived in proper houses. We had running water, and adequate water wells, electricity 24 hours a day and free access to health care and education. For a period of two years after we settled down in the camp [in Lebanon], we didn’t even have any toilets. Children, men, women, the elderly, everyone had to do their business out in the open.
Adrian Hartrick/Oxfam
Searching for water
When we first arrived, we also used to search for water in the area. We would ask the local community if we could fill water from their taps, some would let us, others would kick us out.
It was humiliating, you would see whole families, adults, children all carrying water jugs and walking for two hours back home. This was either during the heat of the summer or the winter’s snow.
Adrian Hartrick/Oxfam
How Oxfam is working with Syrian refugees in Lebanon
- Oxfam provides safe clean water to Syrian refugee families in Lebanon.
- Refugee families live in tents in more than 200 settlements.
- We construct and maintain toilets and handwashing facilities with EU support.
Getting a water supply
The situation got much better once Oxfam started working in the site. We get regular water supply now, and their teams always test the water to see if it’s safe to drink.
We receive vouchers from Oxfam, and whenever we need water, we call the water trucker and exchange the vouchers for water. We live in a rural area, and cars wouldn’t be able to access it, so water is delivered by a tractor. If we lost this assistance and didn’t get water from Oxfam, we would be facing another crisis.
