Spotlight: Bridge of Peace

Fayetteville couple reaches out to Syrian refugees

In Hamsa and Moshe Newmark's household, the computer rings frequently with incoming Skype calls, and their phones buzz with texts and notifications from Syria.

People in refugee camps, who now call the Newmarks friends, are calling to update them on life there. The conversations turn to the low food supply, the lack of potable water and often have the sounds of conflict in the background.

Bridge of Peace

What: A humanitarian aid organization that plans to place school structures in Al Waleed Refugee Camp so children can continue their education.

When: Donations can be made online at any time.

Where: Fayetteville and northern Syria

Info: bridgeofpeacesyria.…, youcaring.com or (479) 530-7486

"Sometimes, when I talk to friends there, I hear the fighting," Hamsa Newmark says. "[The Syrian conflict] is very, very real to us, and when our friends lose family members and friends, it becomes personal.

"You start to really identify with it and care about that. Really, deeply care about that. That's what gives us fuel."

As cofounders of Bridge of Peace, a nonprofit that sends food and supplies to Syrian refugees, the Newmarks began their path to making the world a better place to live in the 1980s. They joined a congressional campaign and supported the person they thought was right for the job. It opened their eyes to the reality of others' living situations around the world.

"Up until then, we didn't know much about national or international politics, and we learned a lot," says Moshe Newmark. "We took a look around the world and said, 'Oh my God, there are people who are really hurting, suffering."

At the time, Nicaraguans were eight years into the Contra War, and the Newmarks wanted to help the people who were stuck in the middle with nowhere to go and few resources to survive.

They formed Puente de Paz in 1987 as a humanitarian aid organization to provide relief to those without options.

"We were looking at the people, the innocents who were affected by the war, and that's when we started the idea of [Puente de Paz], helping the victims and children who were caught in this conflict," Moshe Newmark says.

"We were not focusing on the political aspects," Hamsa Newmark says. "It's so complicated with the involvement of [many countries]. Our focus is on helping the victims."

Through Puente de Paz and with the help of a few staff members, the Newmarks provided valuable immunizations and put water testing programs and new potable water systems into place in Nicaragua until the Contra War ended.

In years since, they have used the organization to benefit a variety of issues and have become more active again since the Arab Spring, the wave of people fighting for freedom and democracy that began to sweep the Middle East in 2011.

Hamsa's sharpened focus started with a hunger strike out of Moadamiya that publicized the nature of cities under siege.

"I was so touched by this man who didn't eat anything for 50 days," she says. "The hunger strike was to support the claims of what the Syrian people really wanted, which was peace, freedom and democracy. I said, 'I can do this. I can join a hunger strike.'"

For more than a week, Hamsa did not eat and organized enough friends and family in Fayetteville to do a "relay fast" together, a collective hunger strike that spanned a month.

"After not eating for nine days, I was there," Hamsa Newmark says. "I thought, 'Whatever I can do, I'll do.'"

With legal help, Hamsa and Moshe expanded to include the Middle East. They met Tamer Altaiar, a Syrian who was begging for help on behalf of a refugee camp, and had friends travel to meet and vet him. He seemed like a good connection to have on the ground, and they would really have to trust him to provide the type of in-kind donation they wanted to send: food, blankets, clothing and items to get Syrians through the harsh winter.

After working the finances, they realized they could spend all their hard-earned donation on shipping or they could take a risk with the money with the chance that the dollars could all go solely to the supplies.

With the first $500 donation, Altaiar bought a truckload of food and sent the Newmarks photos, the beginning of a great working relationship. They provide the funds, and Altaiar handles the harried business of buying the items in the war-torn country and driving supplies over the border to the Al Waleed Refugee camp in northern Syria, which houses 700 people (300 of them children) in tents. The relatively small size makes it more accessible to provide for.

"The camps that have hundreds of thousands of people with tents that go on forever, that is the work for UNICEF," Hamsa Newmark says. "But those smaller camps and individual families inside Syria don't get any help."

Altaiar drives in the dead of night for fear of airstrikes and uses volunteers to shield the supplies, since they have no bungee cords to keep them in place.

So far, Bridge of Peace has provided food, clothing, thick blankets and baby formula for the camp, which has welcomed eight new babies since the beginning of the year. Now, the Newmarks' focus is on making a refugee school possible. They seek donations to contribute to two tent structures (which are safer because permanent structures are targets for bombings), two teachers, counselors and educational materials.

In a place where 10 million people have been displaced, the Newmarks want to aid by investing in the future.

"These children haven't been to school or maybe only for the first year," Moshe Newmark says. "There are kids 9, 10, 11 years old who are illiterate. If that goes on, who is going to rebuild the country?

"You start with something small, doable, accomplishable. To those 300 children, [donations] are not small. It's everything. It's the world."

NAN Profiles on 04/26/2015

Upcoming Events