1. Close up, boots trudging through mud in flooded tented settlement
2. Med shot, 12-year-old Syrian refugee boy trudging through mud in flooded tented settlement
3. Wide shot, makeshift tents in Dalhamieh village
4. Wide shot, boy trudging through mud in flooded tented settlement
5. Med shot, Syrian refugees in informal settlement in Lebanon
6. Wide shot, informal settlement for Syrian refugees
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yashya (name changed), Syrian Refugee Boy:
“We have no heating. People want to stay warm, and they cannot. We just need blankets to stay warm, we don’t have any.”
8. Med shot, Yashya and his family huddled around a wood stove
9. Wide shot, smoke coming out of stove’s exhaust pipe
10. Med shot, water logged tent
11. Med shot, pan, cardboard boxes holding Hanan’s tent
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hanan (name changed), Syrian Refugee:
“I put this nylon sheet to prevent water from seeping in, but it didn’t do anything. Look, it’s mud, there’s mud everywhere.”
13. Tilt up, mud and water in the informal settlement housing Syrian refugees
14. Pan left, settlement with makeshift tents housing Syrian refugees
15. Close up, log being sawn in half
16. Wide shot, Lebanese boys and girls cutting and arranging logs
17. Med shot, Abood Mustafa, Lebanese resident with his face covered
18. Wide shot, Abood Mustafa, Lebanese resident with his face covered, looking on
19. Med shot, Lebanese girls arranging and packing wood
20. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abood Mustafa, Lebanese Resident:
“People don’t have heaters, they need heaters and they need fuel oil. We’re trying to help, we cut some wood, and we’re trying to make things work. We can’t get heaters for everyone. There are still people without water tanks, water filters, blankets, or mattresses. People who crossed the border into Lebanon arrive with absolutely nothing.”
21. Med shot, UNICEF staff members laying out winter items on table
22. Close up, winter items getting prepared for distribution
23. Close up, winter items getting prepared for distribution
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Mulet, UNICEF Supply and Logistics Specialist:
“Time is against us so we have to rush into this distribution as soon as possible. This is why we are looking at the local market availability.”
25. Various still images, children

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Storyline

Trudging through the mud in a small village near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, 12 year old Yashya is feeling the cold.

Temperatures are nearing the freezing point, but there is little to keep him warm.

Yashya and his family are refugees from Syria, and like 700 others here they have nothing but these makeshift tents to fight the bitter winter.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yashya (name changed), Syrian Refugee Boy:
“We have no heating. People want to stay warm, and they cannot. We just need blankets to stay warm, we don’t have any.”

Huddled around their only source of heat, a wood stove that’s burning plastic from garbage dumps, they’re making desperate attempts to survive the extreme weather.

Just the day before, pouring rain had made its way into the tents. The cardboard boxes, sheets and stones holding Hanan’s quarter gave way.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hanan (name changed), Syrian Refugee:
“I put this nylon sheet to prevent water from seeping in, but it didn’t do anything. Look, it’s mud, there’s mud everywhere.”

The dangerous mix of the cold, the rain and the lack of basic hygiene has put the refugees at high risk of deadly diseases like respiratory infections.

Further along in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanese residents like Abood Mustafa are doing what they can to help their neighbours.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abood Mustafa, Lebanese Resident:
“People don’t have heaters, they need heaters and they need fuel oil. We’re trying to help, we cut some wood, and we’re trying to make things work. We can’t get heaters for everyone. There are still people without water tanks, water filters, blankets, or mattresses. People who crossed the border into Lebanon arrive with absolutely nothing.”

UNICEF has offered some respite to the Syrian refugees, providing winter clothes, medical, nutritional kits and cash vouchers that are being distributed in North Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

SOUNDBITE (English) Olivier Mulet, UNICEF Supply and Logistics Specialist:
“Time is against us so we have to rush into this distribution as soon as possible. This is why we are looking at the local market availability.”

There are more than 160,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon already. Over 50 percent of these are children.