How Eastern Ghouta residents survive siege
The 350,000 residents of Eastern Ghouta continue to live under the siege, where aid is never enough and the semi-autonomous way to survive the blockage was halted due to water shortage and contamination.
“We are in the Middle East and in the Middle Ages,” said Firas Abdullah, 24, a photographer and media activist from the Ghouta Media Center in Douma, rural Damascus. “People take the wood from trees directly to warm up next to the fire, and they don’t have enough food to feed themselves. We eat what we find.” In October, Abdullah started a media campaign to inform the international community about the four-year siege on Eastern Ghouta, which has led to death and starvation. Children especially were the most vulnerable victims of the cruel siege. Douma and the neighboring villages are continuously subjected to bombs and missiles from the government forces.
It’s a wonder that the 350,000 residents of Eastern Ghouta have managed to survive during the past four years.
