Emotional Dispatches From Mom Trapped in Besieged Syrian Town of Madaya
A mom from the town has shared her plight with ABC News.
— -- Access in and out of Madaya, Syria, has been severely restricted since July 2015 and now some insights have been given into the plight of those trapped in the town due to the ongoing civil war.
The town, which used to thrive on farming and food production from their fertile lands, is now filled with residents reliant on aid groups and the dried foodstuffs they deliver for their survival.
Amid all the horrors of life in Madaya, families are fighting to stay alive. Over recent days, ABC News has been in regular contact with one of them.
While the family can’t leave the town physically, they can tell their story to the world. Through text messages and phone conversations, a heartbreaking picture of unimaginable suffering emerges which is documented on a live blog.
Here is a summary of some of Madaya Mom's most emotional dispatches.
Day 1: Tuesday Jan. 19
Today has been a difficult day for the family. They felt ill for much of the night from severe stomach pains and vomiting. The mom says their stomachs are having trouble digesting food since they've been hungry for so long.
When we spoke to her yesterday, she detailed their adapted eating habits.
"Today our one meal was rice and bean soup... our bodies are no longer used to eating, my children are hungry but are getting sick, severe stomach pains from the food because their bodies aren't able to digest and absorb the food because they were hungry for so long," Madaya Mom wrote.
"When we wake up, we drink mint or thyme tea from the garden -- with a little bit of sugar. It keeps the children from being hungry for a while."
Food is not the only type of fuel that is scant in the area. The city has not had any electricity in the past six months. The family uses their car battery to charge their phone but that is dependent on the level of fuel that they have left.
The family told ABC News that a gallon of fuel cost the equivalent of U.S. $8.64 prior to the siege in July. Now, it costs about U.S. $90 per gallon.
Day 2: Wednesday Jan. 20
DISPATCH ONE: After an 11-hour silence, Madaya Mom finally was back online texting at 2 a.m. Syria time.
She had been so ill on Tuesday, and caring for her equally ill children, she had no energy to even text.
She had gotten a bit of sleep after vomiting the little food -- some rice and beans -- she had eaten because her stomach, and her childrens', were still unable to digest solid foods after being hungry for so long.
She was up so early this morning, attempting to heat her home by burning pieces of wood from her closet, she texted, but was grateful even in this dire situation:
"I’m up now, at 2 a.m. to heat up the house. It snowed yesterday and it’s really cold. So we’re breaking up the closet for firewood. We’ve already used the big dresser. And we’re lucky because we have wood furniture, others don’t," the Madaya Mom wrote.
DISPATCH TWO:Madaya Mom spent another day caring for her sick children, with meager medical supplies.
Her youngest is still suffering from such acute stomach pains. She reluctantly sent his older brother to stand in the day-long line at the health dispensary, the only source of medicine in town. He managed to get the medicine but returned home distressed.
"He came back home very shaken. He told me he saw many people fainting in front him, and kept asking why some of the children were skin and bones, walking barefoot," Madaya Mom said.
She thinks her son might be having a physical response to the hunger and anxiety, but she’s not sure.
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