Syria's Desperate Housewives

Behind the lines of the war against Bashar al-Assad, life is dire. Suha Maayeh retold the story of Aysha, a 28-year-old Syrian refugee in Jordan:

Life is hard for their wives, too, many of whom admit they cry themselves to sleep, fearing for their husbands and frustrated at their desperate attempts to fend for themselves and their children alone. As new refugees in a host country that is ailing economically, they have little in the way of options or opportunities. And if their husbands don't make it back, their primary support system will die with them. Most live on private aid donated by Christian and Islamic charities, Jordanian sympathizers, and wealthy Syrian expats from the Persian Gulf. Basics like shampoo and toilet paper have become a luxury. Aysha and her daughters often miss meals.

(Image: "Aysha, standing beside her younger sister Nadia, holds up her fingers in the "Victory" sign -- a symbol of resistance adopted by Syria's revolutionaries," via Foreign Policy.)