Whitney Hans Blog #14 on Syria 3/17/16
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-841ebc3a-1be9-493b-8800-2c04890e8fc9

Syria: Five years into war, what is left of the country?


There is so much death right now in Syria it's like what is even happening in Syria other than war right now. The war has raged for five years and has claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million people. Millions of people have fled because of the war, but nearly 18 million people still live in the war torn country. Don't you just wonder what life for them is like, I sure wonder. In many areas the threat of dying or getting an injury is just a fact of life to them. Everyone in Syria will have known people who have died- but the exact number of people that have died may never be known. Just imagine knowing that someone you know from your town is killed and you can't do anything about it because it happens on a daily basis. From all the years of the war if you would put together all the names of every child who has died and put it in a little slide show it would take over 19 hours to get through all the names. Aren't you wondering how many people are actually still living in Syria, well here you go. The United Nations estimates that 17.9 million people still live in Syria - down from 24.5 million before the war broke out. More than 6 million of them are classed as internally displaced after being forced to flee their homes to look somewhere safer to live. But where do they live? Most provinces have seen a sharp decline in population and many of those that remain have fled the cities to seek shelter in the countryside. Life goes on as normal in many parts of the capital, Damascus, but elsewhere millions struggle to get by. The UN says 13.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 4.5 million of those in hard-to-reach and besieged areas like Deir al-Zour. It is also hard for everyone to get hospital care because a lot of the hospitals aren't functioning. It is also different for kids to go to school because with a lot of the children dying, there are a million fewer now than there were in 2010. And of those that are still there, more than 40% are no longer going to school. Also food is disappearing because a lot of people are using food as weapons so it have lessen the food supply for everyone living in Syria. Wow that was a lot. I feel so bad for everyone living and trying to live in Syria right now and I can't imagine what it's like living in Syria. I have deep remorse for all the people in Syria.