Central Coast residents raise money for Syrian refugees

“He has running water two hours everyday, maybe four hours. He has a few hours of electricity everyday,” said Mumtaz Tabba, a Syrian gastroenterologist working at Natividad Medical Center.

That’s what it’s like for Mumtaz Tabba’s brother, a dentist living in Damascus, Syria’s capital.

“Now, his practice is only limited for extreme emergencies, only for those who knock at his door,” Tabba said.

Government checkpoints turned his 15 minute commute to the clinic into two to three hours.

And a few weeks ago, Tabba’s brother-in-law had a stroke.

“It took him several days to be able to … have X-ray to diagnose his stroke, and you know, later treatment is no good for a stroke,” Tabba said.

Tabba said they’re lucky to be living in Damascus, and away from the war, but many Syrians aren’t as fortunate.

According to the United Nations, the civil war has left more than 13 million people in need of humanitarian aid, including 4.6 million trapped in remote areas. More than half the population has been forced to leave their homes.

Residents from the central coast are trying to help.

“Sympathies for the refugees is something we must put into action, and give, to help the medical relief fund that is working on the spot in Syria,” said Katharina Harlow, one of the event organizers.

Proceeds from the Friday’s fundraiser in Carmel will go to support the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), an organization of physicians that have helped millions of Syrians.

“SAMS has provided facilities, education, vaccination, lots of projects to help these refugees to get the healthcare they were not allowed or unable to reach,” said Kerala Serio with SAMS.

And after President Trump’s travel ban, more than 1,200 people have been denied entry into the country, and 100,000 plus valid visas have also been revoked, including those under refugee status from Syria.

“We applied for a humanitarian visa for him, (and) that was in November of last year. And we contact the authorities many times about his humanitarian visa, but now, we found ourselves really limited,” Tabba said.

In 2015, SAMS treated almost three million Syrians in the war-torn country.

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