DAMASCUS: Manar is like many of those in Yarmouk Camp.
The 28-year-old is a single mother of four and malnourished. But all she can think about is how heartbreaking it is to see the children of the camp, not just her own, starve.
Manar and her children are among 35,000 refugees of the Syrian civil war who have nowhere to go other than the shelter, which now sees constant gunfights between the army and rebels holed up nearby.
She has been feeding her children grass and leaves found inside the camp.
The "food" is staple for her, too, and is the only thing sustaining her as she nurses her youngest.
"There is no food left inside. We have no other option, except to starve to death."
Days like last Friday, when humanitarian agencies provide what little food available to the refugees, seem like heaven to Manar and her children, as well as the rest of the camp.
Met by the New Straits Times as she was lining up to receive the food aid, Manar was holding her youngest child, whom she had named Shahad.
"Shukran, shukran (thank you)," she said in Arabic. "This (the food aid) is really meaningful to us."
Manar, whose husband was killed a few months ago, had to leave her three other kids at home further inside the camp.
Only those who held food coupons were allowed outside, her toddler an exception as she was too young to be left without supervision.
Another single mother in her 20s, who would not give her name, was also holding her baby, whose name is Qar Qar, when met at the queue.
Upon seeing several Malaysian volunteers were excited to hold the 4-month-old, who was so hungry and thirsty that she hungrily sucked a piece of watermelon fed to her, the woman used hand gestures to offer the baby to the volunteers.
The NST also saw a month-old premature baby, so malnourished that he weighed no more than 1kg .
This is only a small peek into the life of the people in Yarmouk. Food is scarce, as is medicine.
It has been estimated that the camp needs at least US$1 million (RM3.2 million) a month for food alone.
