SWFL woman aids in Syrian refugee camp

NAPLES, Fla. — Jan Dynes is a Southwest Florida woman who has spent most of her time everywhere but Southwest Florida.

Dynes’ most recent trip was to Urfa, Turkey, where she mostly worked with orphans at a Syrian refugee camp.

Out of the 1.6 million people in the refugee camp, about 40,000 of those were orphans.

While Dynes spent much of her life volunteering, this was her first time in a war zone, she said. But what struck Dynes the most wasn’t the death or destruction — it was the sense of unity among the refugees.

“With 1.6 million people, you can bet they don’t all know each other, but they know each other on the inside because of the pain they share,” she said.

President Donald Trump has officially been President for five days and has signed nearly five executive orders.

Trump’s latest plan will further outline his immigration policy, denying incoming Syrian refugees for at least 120 days, as well as a temporary suspension on visas issued to people from Iran, Iraq and Syria, the Associated Press reported.

“I hope that we begin to see each other as just the human race, and that religion doesn’t necessarily play a part in this, but humanity does,” Dynes said.

Dynes planned to return to Turkey in February, but is unsure if the new immigration policies will allow her to do so.