When Safa came to the UK from Syria, she faced having her baby alone. Now Fatoma, who fled Sudan 10 years ago, will be with her as part of a groundbreaking scheme
Bouncing a chattering toddler on her knee, a patterned headscarf framing her broad smile, Safa shows few signs of how difficult her life has been. But as she describes the past five years, her hand moves instinctively to her pregnant stomach.
In 2012, Safa and her husband, both in their late 20s, were living in Aleppo when a blast destroyed their home, injuring him and leaving them with nothing. The young couple travelled by bus to Lebanon where, for six months, they shared a room and one toilet with 10 other people. Surviving on a tiny stipend from the UN, they were eventually given their own room – “about the size of this”, she says, gesturing to a small table – in return for collecting all the rubbish in the block. It was there that she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, now 18 months old. “We were treated like animals,” she says.
I was scared. Where we come from, when you do this sort of operation, either the baby or the mother dies
Befrienders make the most enormous difference. They are figures of trust for women who may be scared to trust others
Related: Please help us help #childrefugees survive the winter - Guardian/Observer 2016 Appeal
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