After six years of serving the needs of the displaced people in Aleppo during the Syrian civil war, and under the title, “Bread and Salt”, JRS Syria organized a farewell celebration on the 15^th September, at the Franciscan convent.

Around three hundred people were invited, fifty of whom were from the sponsors and financiers who had accompanied the JRS kitchen throughout its journey, even with small steps, and those who were the fundamental supporters and partners in the distribution points for the daily cooked meals. The rest were invitees from among the JRS volunteers from all sections.

The celebration included speeches by Jesuit Fathers, the Aleppo JRS Project Director and the country JRS Project Director from Damascus, in addition to the personal sharing of an experience by one of the kitchen volunteers about his work in the cooking tent.

There was also the projection of two videos prepared by our JRS media designer in Aleppo. The first one included testimonies by some beneficiaries and JRS kitchen volunteers (management team and workers). The second was a documentary of the kitchen’s journey during the past six years, explaining the service offered, the areas that had been served by JRS, the quantity food provided step by step and the improvement in the work.

A tour followed for all the attendees around the cooking tent, organized by the Damascus and Aleppo media team. This tour had quite an emotional impact on the visitors who expressed their gratitude for all the efforts which had been made under the tent to serve thousands of needy displaced people in Aleppo.

It was also an emotional event for the volunteers who had considered this tent as a home for them, and this home was bringing them together each day from all walks of life, it was the place the had witnessed their worries and their gladness, their joys and their sadness.