The Deir Vartan Center which served as headquarters for the JRS in Syria, has been destroyed. JRS often hosted soccer matches between teams made up of Iraqi, Kurdish, Christian, Muslim, and local Syrian boys.           

Sister Hala led women and children in calisthenics on the grounds of  the Deir Vartan Center. The center had been a gathering place for Iraqi refugees and Syrians coming together to share meals and participate in educational and recreational activities.  

At the Saint-Varan parish center, JRS hosted a gathering of Christian and Muslim mothers on Syria's Mother's Day.

The Saint-Varan parish center in Aleppo hosted many gatherings between Christians and Muslims. Here Sr. Hala Daoud welcomes a Muslim woman to a mother's day celebration.

JRS was contacted by another NGO who discovered 3 young Somali’s stranded on the streets of Ankara. JRS arranged hotel accommodations for them and found them warm clothes and food until more permanent help could be arranged.     

At the Vatican Embassy in Ankara where the JRS offices are located, volunteers cook and serve meals to Iraqi refugees every Sunday after the parish mass. 

An assistant with JRS  works with an Iraqi refugee. Zamam Mahhammed was driving his taxi when he was caught in cross fire between American soldiers and Iraqi insurgents. A bullet shattered his leg. 

He fled Iraq with his family and is now a refugee seeking asylum.

Zamam Mahhammed and his family fled Iraq to Syria where they received assistance from JRS in finding a home and new opportunities. 

At the Jesuit Center in Amman, JRS sponsors community days for Iraqi refugees who come together to share traditional Iraqi meals of dolma, and to attend lectures and religious services.

JRS utilizes a Greek Roman Catholic school after regular school hours to teach Iraqi refugees English, French, and computer skills

JRS utilizes a Greek Roman Catholic school after regular school hours to teach Iraqi refugees English, French, and computer skills

JRS sponsors a school in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. These girls from the same extended family, have been in the Shatila camp for six months. The camp is home to 23,000 Palestinians living in an area of less than one square kilometer.                             

This young boy is attending an art class sponsored by JRS in the Shatila camp.

Over a million Syrian refugees have fled into Lebanon putting tremendous strain on the hospitals, schools, and overburdened power grid. Many of the refugees find shelter with friends and family, but many others have nowhere to go other than tent camps with very limited resources.  

Classrooms in an abandoned school have become home to more than fifty families escaping the violence in Syria. This woman and her family live in a room partitioned off from the school’s kitchen, where another woman washes dishes.                                 

A Kurdish family from Aleppo lives in a partially constructed bulding since fleeing Syria. The father earns $600 per month as a laborer for the owner of the building who charges the family $400 for rent.                           

A recent arrival to the school had fled with his children and nieces from the Tadamon neighborhood in Damascus, Syria. Although their living conditions are far from ideal, he says that at least his children are safe here. His eldest son was killed in cross-fire in Syria.

Wafi and Jenan Youssif lost their daughter, Raghda, when terrorists in Baghdad attacked the Christian church she was attending. The Youssif’s fled Iraq because of threats to their own lives and found support through JRS.