Saturday, December the 5 saw the launch of a convoy of flour and humanitarian winter aid for the Syrian people that brought together 12 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The displaced people of Syria will be facing the worst of winter in the next few months and this aid will help to lighten their burden.

South Africa was represented in the convoy by the Al-Imdaad Foundation, which contributed 10 trucks consisting of a total of 250 tons of flour that will be used to produce pita loaves, which are the Syrian staple.

The Al-Imdaad Foundation‘s contribution to this convoy forms part of its Flour4Syria campaign which is an on-going project contributing to the flour needs of bakeries supplying displaced Syrians. Critical shortages of wheat and fuel within Syria have meant an escalation of the price of the staple pita loaf to $6 in some areas, making it unaffordable to many families.

The shortages are a reflection of the fact that there has been no healthy agriculture and trade in Syria for the last four years as a result of the sustained conflict. During the winter the intake of staples is usually increased to fuel the greater energy required to warm the body, making the timing of this intervention ideal.

As part of the campaign, an Al-Imdaad Foundation delegation followed the flour from production until the launch of the convoy.
The delegation started their mission in the Southern Turkish city of Adana where production had been secured at a state of the art milling facility.

Khizar Belim a member of the Al-Imdaad team coordinating the campaign described the Mobak Un flour milling factory as “a five story, fully automated facility with each floor having a specific function from separating chaff from the kernel, to washing, cutting, grinding and various sieving and sifting processes.

It was really a wonder of modern technology” The end result is flour that is free from impurities and contamination and ready to be delivered in durable 50kg sacks to bakeries inside Syria. After having witnessed the whole flour production operation from the raw wheat to the final product, the Al-Imdaad Foundation team saw off the ten trucks from the flour mill in Adana on their way to a humanitarian coordination centre in Kilis, near the Syrian border.

The team later followed the trucks to Kilis for the launch of the convoy. The convoy saw NGOs from as far afield as Australia, the UK, Qatar and South Africa coming together to serve the Syrian people.

At the press conference for the launch of the convoy, Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Muhammad Sader reiterated the commitment of the foundation to addressing the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people despite the difficulties that prevail.

For the Al-Imdaad delegation the satisfaction of seeing the trucks launched in convoy after having followed the flour every step of the way was immense. The flour will be distributed to a network of 17 humanitarian bakeries within Syria. It will provide much relief in the winter months to displaced communities in camps in Idlib, Homs, and parts of Hama and Aleppo.

A portion of the flour will also be baked into pita loaves at the onsite bakery at the Kilis coordination centre on the Turkish side of the border and will be distributed as pita directly to IDPs near the border.

The Al-Imdaad Foundation says that the Flour4Syria campaign will continue to be a key project as long as necessary. In this iteration, the 250 tons of flour that were sent off will be enough to produce up to 2.5 million pita loaves for the Syrian people.

This will go a long way to helping them to overcome the financial burden that buying a simple loaf of bread has become. To support this project or for more information, please call 0861 786 243 or visit www.alimdaad.com