Reports | 25 05 2020
Cancer had gotten the better of Umm Saleh three years ago. She was operated on in a Turkish hospital, after medical conditions worsened in Syria.
The health condition of the woman, in her fifties, deteriorated after the procedure. She eventually became in need of continuous treatment, requiring her to constantly move between the city of Idlib and the Turkish city of Urfa twice a month; leaving behind her nine children, the eldest of whom is yet to reach the tender age of 16.
Her receiving free treatment notwithstanding, Umm Saleh and her husband are compelled to stay several more days after treatment, in a charitable housing facility, in the hope that her husband can secure some type of emplyoment from which he can save the cost of their trip back home, which amounts to 50 thousand [Syrian] Pounds per month, or circa $250 US.
Umm Saleh shares her temporary abode with another resident, who helps and takes care of her, in the residence in which men are housed separately from men—regardless if they were family or kin, or not. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says that Umm Saleh has indeed come to terms with her disease, and treats her condition with an open mind. What causes her distress, however, is her constant absences from her family.