Profile: Sr Annie, working with people trapped in Aleppo

Images of the war in Syria appear on out televisions screens every night, but few of us know the humanitarian situation on the ground in Aleppo better than Sister Annie Demerjian. Born in Damascus to a devout Armenian Christian family, this slight, softly spoken, 49 year-old nun, from the Order of Jesus and Mary, leads a team of lay volunteers who, at great risk to their own safety, go from house-to-house, providing basic help and support, especially for the sick and elderly, trapped in the bombed-out city.

During a brief visit to London, where she addressed supporters of Aid to the Church in Need, and spoke at a packed meeting in the House of Lords, hosted by humanitarian campaigner Lord David Alton, Sister Annie gave a harrowing, graphic account of life in Aleppo. "Its indescribable" she said. "Aleppo is a broken city where life hardly exists. .. Aleppo has become a city of death."

Describing the warring parties as "monsters... devouring one another," Sister Annie brought pictures drawn by Syrian children showing the everyday scenes they witness of death and destruction and expressing their express their desire for peace. Some children had drawn family members and friends who have been killed. Some drew planes flying, bombs falling and homes smashed to pieces. Others focussed on people recovering from injury. They all carried messages and prayers for peace.

Aleppo's ancient Christian community has fallen from 200,000 to less than 35,000 since the war began. Churches have been destroyed. Hospitals, schools and homes obliterated. Those people who have remained in the city, often because they are too sick or elderly to move, are living in desperate conditions without food, water and electricity for weeks on end. In the sumer they endure intense heat. This year there were temperatures of over 50 degrees centigrade. In the winter it is bitterly cold. People have to queue for hours for water, sold at exorbitant prices they can't afford. Sr Annie described one elderly couple who sold their bed in order to buy fuel last winter. They rationed themselves, heating just one room for one hour a day. This winter they have nothing left to sell.

Besides the shortages, the sniper fire, rockets and bombs brings death each day - "or worse" - Sr Annie said, "they bring life changing injuries, pain and trauma."

"Our people are resilient" she said. "They are awaiting the dawn, but they can't see the horizon."

Many doctors, nurse and aid workers have been killed. Sr Annie and her team have had several near misses. Just recently she was thrown back by a huge explosion as she walked down a residential street. "For a moment, I thought it was my last moment to live," she said. "We are surrounded by the rebels. You don't know when a bomb might land on you."

With Aleppo largely cut off from the outside world, Sister Annie uses aid to purchase much-needed items for distribution to the housebound. Her team brings water, food and medicines. They also meet living costs such as rent, fuel for heating and electricity, which is often powered by portable makeshift generators. A big priority is seasonal gifts for children at Easter and Christmas. "The war has gone on so long, these children have not experienced anything else - so it is especially important to celebrate these feasts" she said. Some light in the darkness.

Sr Annie said she could not understand why Western journalists usually focus on the plight of people in areas held by rebels and jihadis, but seldom report on those in regions controlled by the government of Bashar Assad. "It is not fair. We don't see a balance," she said. "There are shells and bombs from everywhere falling all over Aleppo.. Both sides are suffering. Both sides are killing civilians." The week before she came to London a Christian woman's son in had been killed on the balcony of their apartment by rebel fire - but no one had reported that. She said she would like journalists to show the plight of all civilians in what they reported in their newspapers, in their interviews.

Sister Annie said families are very afraid. "They are living in fear most of the time, but also living in the hope that one day there will be peace. In an effort to keep some sense of normality, and when it is possible, parents try to send their children to school. Although when they say goodbye, they know they may not see each other again, she said, "because they know that at any time rockets or shells might fall on top of us."

The psychological damage is resulting in a pain far greater than that of the physical pain, she said. Children are growing up with limited education and no sense of security. When peace does come it will be a huge task to re-integrate people back into society. There is "a lost generation of young people in Syria for whom death is an everyday experience."

She added: "I wish and I hope that everybody - all those who have the power to intervene in Syria - will act as peacemakers and think about how they can make peace in Syria and especially in Aleppo."

"This is very important to us. Stop thinking about victory for one side or the other. We want peace. We have had enough. Our people are tired after six years," she said. "We wonder why this is happening to us. We were living in peace and lacking nothing and we wonder why this has happened. Many people are asking why this war has happened."

She continued: "This is the message from my people: Please, please be the makers of peace. It is not just for Syria, it's for the whole world."

Sister Annie said Christians and Muslims lived in harmony before the war. "We lived in the same areas, we called each other brothers and sisters. ... We didn't have divisions between Muslims and Christians before. This is new."

Sister Annie thanked all those who have donated to ACN. "In the name of hundreds of families and children, we say thank you because you have entered the houses and the hearts of many; because you have fed hundreds of hungry families, because you provide warmth to those who feel cold, because hundreds of pairs of shoes protect hundreds of children from the harsh winter, because, through you, we can heal many wounded people."

She concluded by appealing for prayers: "Our world is a gift from God. part of it is bleeding. Be peacemakers for us and our children." Quoting Pope Francis, she said: "We require a globalisation of solidarity... not the globalisation of indifference."

"Pray for Aleppo. People are fearful as never before," said Sr Annie. "Thousands have already left the city, both Christian and Muslim. We are preparing for the worst... I do not know how long the people can continue to endure it all. Pray for us please."

If you would like to support Sr Annie's work go to: www.acnuk.org/donate2.php