Feature: Aid workers in Syria risk safety, peace of mind to help afflicted people

From organizing children parties ahead of the crisis to witnessing unimaginable agony of people during the war, aid workers in Syria have witnessed indescribable suffering of people in the worst humanitarian disaster since the World War II.

"Before the crisis, we used to execute one mission a week. There were extremely rare emergencies back then. Our work was about organizing children parties and collect toys for them," said Muayad Saadi, a humanitarian worker.

He said the biggest task back then was to organize blood donations, and the main reason he joined a humanitarian work was because he loved the collective effort in helping people.

However, Saadi had never imagined that he would actually be working in a war, as what appeared to be a clean-color job has turned upside down during the crisis.

"Now I work every day for at least six hours, sometimes I even stay out for days," he said, speaking of the delivery of aid and humanitarian help to people in different parts of the country.

Saadi said he had faced difficult situation when he saw the suffering of people, which pushed him to try to live up to this responsibility.

In two rebel-held areas south of Damascus, namely Yalda and Babila, Saadi and his colleagues had to help evacuating afflicted civilians from those adjacent areas.

"It was a difficult task, there was no electricity or water in those towns and we were waiting at the entrance waiting for people to come out. It was a cold, dark and moonless night. It appeared to me as if ghosts were approaching us, and I got scared and felt the chill down my spine. They were like ghosts, those who were evacuating," he said of the illness and bad medical situation of the afflicted people.

"There were hundreds of them surrounding me. I got scared of this spectacle, but happy at the same time that those people were granted permission by the army forces to leave," he said.

Both towns were taken by ultra-radical groups, some of which pledged alliance to the Islamic State (IS).

Saadi said he feels the same toward all people, as his mission is purely humanitarian. However, he complained of what every other aid worker was complaining.

"I have been at risk more than one time. My colleagues have been shot at in many rebel-held areas, like Douma, near Damascus and the central city of Homs. The warring parties find it hard to understand that we are impartial people with humanitarian goal. We are no one's enemy, but they don't seem to digest this idea," Saadi said.

The 38-year-old worker said he himself have also suffered while on duty.

"A mortar shell once struck nearby, causing me a ruptured eardrum. I have also had a chronic high blood pressure as a result of my work and the horrible things we see," Saadi said.

Saadi said 2011 and 2013 were the worst years for him in his humanitarian work due to the calamities that he witnessed during his work.

In the rebel-held district of Muadamiyeh near Damascus, Saadi said he had spent 20 hours in that area, smelling burnt plastic.

"I found out that people there were heating in the cold on burnt plastic. Asthma cases were also found there," he recounted.

He said the long working hours have taught him patience, bravery and how to manage the stress and anger.

"I learned how to respect the human life. When I am on an evaluation mission, I go to children and ask them about their needs," he said, recounting how some rebel groups capitalized on the humanitarian aid process to take over the shipments and sold it to people in high prices.

Not all things Saadi had seen in his work were bad. He said he had seen something which gave hope of a solution to this crisis one day.

"In Barzeh district near Damascus, reconciliation was established between the Syrian army and the rebels. The scene that I could not forget was when the Syrian soldiers were standing next to the rebels exchanging cigarettes and chatting," he said.

"I will surely convince my kids to work in the humanitarian field because no other job can give them the experience in life as much as this one," he continued.

During the civil war, Syria has witnessed massive damage of infrastructure and houses, severe deterioration in public services as well as inadequate food supply.

Around 13.5 million Syrians require some form of assistance, of whom 72 percent have no access to drinking water and two million children are out of school, said UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien, when he made a visit to Damascus last December. Endit