"I can say without exaggeration that today we have left the term "poverty" behind us, today we speak of "misery".

Not only the fighting, not only the spread of the Coronavirus--at the moment contained but which still represents a danger. After ten years of war, Syria has also been hit in recent months by a very serious economic crisis, as Br. Bahjat Karakach recounts in this message from Damascus.

Br. Bahjat Kararkach says, "The Syrian lira is losing value precipitously. A few months ago one dollar was equivalent to almost 1,000 Syrian liras, today to 3,200, so the prices have more than tripled."

He adds, "Today a family man would have to work a whole month to be able to buy a couple of kilos of meat, he would have to work a whole year to be able to pay the school fees of one child. Today we go into houses and find people who don't have enough to feed themselves."

Hence Br. Bahjat's appeal, may we never forget the Syrian people.

He continues, "Dear friends, today in these difficult times we have no other solution but to resort to your charity, to your closeness. As Church we try to be close to the people, not to leave anyone without bread. But we could not continue our mission without your support, without your charity."

Br. Bahjat asserts that the difficulty in buying food and essential goods makes it impossible for the local population to return to normal at this time.