The Duchess of Cornwall hailed the “strength of spirit” shown by women who fled the civil war in Syria as she met some in a refugee camp yesterday.

Camilla spoke as she and the Prince of Wales toured the King Abdullah Park camp near the Syrian border in Jordan, as part of the royal couple’s tour of the Middle East.

They saw firsthand the situation that faces the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war-torn country as the conflict enters its third year.

The camp, run by the United Nations, Unicef and Save the Children, is currently home to 921 refugees, of whom 529 are under 18, who escaped but left many loved ones behind them, dead, wounded or trapped by the bloody fighting.

After meeting half-a-dozen women at a craft skills training centre – when she made them laugh by giving them the thumbs up – Camilla said: “Some of their stories are so harrowing but what I find so remarkable is their strength of spirit and the way they are so cheerful despite their circumstances.

“I think that is women for you. They have got their children to look after, they have to survive.

“But to think that many of them don’t even know whether their husbands are alive or dead, it is just awful.”

The women and children at the centre make crafts and knitting goods, which are sold to raise funds for the refugees.

Through a translator, Camilla asked “Have you always knitted?” and one woman told her that she had been in the camp with her children for seven months, another for a year and a half.

She and Charles also visited the camp’s clinic, where they were greeted by doctors and medical staff who treat the refugees.

The head clinician introduced them to his staff and told them: “You are welcome here.”

Camilla asked: “What are the main problems here?” and inquired about if they had any midwives to assist pregnant women.

The nurse explained that they did and Camilla replied: “I think you are doing a wonderful job.”

Visiting a nursery at the camp, where children are helped to get over the trauma they have experienced, she spoke to Noraman, 13, from Mahaja village, and Emira, 12, from Da’el.

Noraman, who has lost her father and two brothers, told the duchess the girls at her table were drawing their back gardens at home in Syria.

She showed her a picture of orange trees and apple trees and said: “This is the garden I remember in my house but I’m not sure it will be there when I get back.”

Emira, whose name means princess, said of her father: “I’m not sure if I will see him again. My mother sometimes says he is dead and sometimes says he is in prison.”

Speaking at the refugee camp headquarters after meeting with UN staff, Charles said: “Many of these children have been traumatised by the horrors of what they’ve witnessed before they got here.

“Some of them have lost their parents and had horrendous experiences and it is remarkable what all these wonderful NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are doing to deal with this unbelievable and heartbreaking situation.

“In some ways children are quite adaptable and resilient but at the same time one of their teachers was telling me that just looking at trees reminded them of where they have been.

“The hope is that they will get back there again.”

Saba Mobaslat, 41, the programme director for Save the Children in Jordan, said the children at the camp are bussed to local schools to continue their education but go to the children’s centre every day for therapy sessions.

They are encouraged to draw what they have seen because they often do not have the vocabulary to express their feelingsand experiences.

“It is aimed at building coping mechanisms and providing resilience. We use drawing, drama, music and arts as an alternative form of expression through which they can express their anxiety and frustration to help them get over it,” she said.

“They draw guns, bodies, a lot of red to begin with and gradually they go back to drawing the garden in their back yard.

“The time frame for their recovery varies from child to child. It takes longer for someone who has witnessed the death of a parent or sibling.

“We have one girl who was walking to school and saw it bombed with her siblings inside and it took her a long time to get over that image.”

The UN agency and the Jordanian Ministry of Health are also undertaking a vaccination programme against polio and measles, and ensuring sanitation in the camps to keep diseases at bay.

Charles added that he had been struck by the generosity of the Jordanian people.

“I think the great thing that’s come out of this is just how unbelievably generous the Jordanian people are, who are truly remarkable I think.

“They’ve managed to cope with and deal with all these hundreds of thousands of refugees and it’s very nearly the second anniversary. It’s a desperate situation and the Jordanian people are so fantastic.

“The generosity is extraordinary but it’s putting more and more strain on food and hospitals so clearly the Jordanians need more assistance and help to be able to cope with this immense challenge.”

More than 330,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Jordan since the war began, according to Unicef figures, with 1,700 refugees registered in the past 24 hours.

Andrew Harper, the humanitarian co-ordinator for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the country, said the number of refugees in Jordan could top one million by the end of 2013 if the fighting does not end.

He said entire villages have come across the border during what he called “the preliminary stages of a mass migration”.

“The most important thing is to highlight the enormous challenges that a country like Jordan is facing, given the unprecedented number of people coming across the border,” he said.

He added: “Jordan has done a fantastic effort so far but words are not enough and the visits are extremely important because Jordan can’t continue to take hundreds of thousands or a million with nice words from the international community.

“We need significant support and investment. We are all running out of money. International aid is too slow and too little. We are faced with a looming disaster.”

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