'I spent Christmas in a refugee camp with hero volunteers — 1 thing really struck me'

The volunteers connected with the people they were helping despite a language barrier (Image: Humphrey Nemar)

Christmas looked a little different for me this year; instead of tucking into a turkey dinner with my cousins on the edge of a Cotswolds, I watched UK volunteers distribute vital aid to Syrian and Palestinian refugees 2,000 miles away in Jordan. It was a humbling and thought-provoking experience.

The six volunteers with charity SKT Welfare had each raised more than £5,000 before joining a deployment to help distribute the aid they had funded and witness its impact. Over five days, they spent time with children evacuated from  Gaza to Jordan to be treated in hospital for cancer or war-related injuries, packed and handed out food parcels, and visited an orphanage providing a safe haven for families who fled Bashar Al-Assad’s brutal regime.

The Express spends a week with British volunteers in Jordan

Throughout the week, the volunteers’ passion and dedication to their work shone through.

They lifted boxes weighing 26kg and heavy bags of firewood until they were physically exhausted, with hands blistered and bleeding.

And, despite a language barrier, they shared moments of profound human connection with the people they were there to support.

There was no expectation of praise — and I’m sure many would be embarrassed to be called heroes.

But the definition of a hero is someone who is “admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great”. 

The plight of refugees is too often reduced to headlines and emotionless argument, but on this deployment there was no discussion of politics or ideology.

Volunteer Zanera chatted to children at a Syrian refugee camp (Image: Humphrey Nemar)

The focus was on human suffering, need, and compassion for those less fortunate than us.

What struck me most was a conversation with one of the charity workers, who was himself a Syrian refugee who fled to Turkey a decade ago.

He told me: “These people all had lives like you and me, they had properties, cars, businesses — and they have lost everything. In a moment, your life can be destroyed.”

Those words will be ringing in my ears whenever I hear refugees discussed in abstract and cold terms.

Charities like SKT Welfare are helping to restore dignity in places where it is often stripped away. They deserve our full support.