( CNN ) When Wadha and her family abruptly fled from Iraq 's Nineva province on a balmy August day , they left all their possessions behind . `` I left with nothing , only a bottle of water , and this shirt , '' says Majdi , Wadha 's eldest son . The family traveled by foot for 15 days to reach the safety of Iraqi Kurdistan . Majdi 's wife was pregnant , slowing their travel . By the time they arrived , 13 members of their family had been killed or kidnapped , including one 12-year-old girl . Today the surviving family members rely on plastic sheeting , cardboard and pallets for an improvised shelter . It was here that Majdi welcomed a baby girl into their family , and in just a few weeks , he and his family may have to move again as local authorities , hoping to get children back in school , move displaced families into temporary shelters . Many of these shelters are built of flimsy materials and some are missing walls , leaving families open to the chilly weather . It 's a terrible decision Wadha and her family may have to make just as the freezing temperatures are expected to arrive : school or shelter ? `` We do n't need anything else , '' says Wadha , `` but , please , just help us for winter . '' From northern Iraq to Jordan , Turkey and Lebanon , the continuing fighting across Syria and Iraq is forcing families to run , and those who survive do not have what they need to last the winter . At the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan , where I visited last year , the cold wind shakes the tents and the temperature drops to freezing . Drafty , damp shelters will spread illness and disease . While most of the year this desert city is bone dry , during winter the rain washes along the rocky ground . It can flood quickly , destroying what few things families still have and making even these sparse accommodations unlivable . In the past , floods have caused riots in the camp . There , a 10-year-old girl , Haya , said to me , `` We fear you are forgetting us . ... Have you ever thought of the children of Syria ? '' Roughly 6.5 million children have been affected by the war in Syria , and 1.6 million children are refugees . Children represent fully half the 3 million refugees across the region . Many Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon and Turkey . Neighboring countries are being overwhelmed by the influx of refugees who have nothing but the clothes they wear . Something as simple as a blanket can help a family adjust to their new situation , easing the burdens on their host communities . A blanket can keep out the cold during these harsh nights and make life as a refugee a little more bearable . When I was in Jordan , I met a man named Mohammed , who had fled after being threatened by militants . His life as a refugee was nothing like what he left in Syria . Like many refugees , his life was n't too different from a middle-class American 's . `` We had everything , '' he told me on my visit to Za'atari last year . He had a good job , a nice home and regular vacations with his family . Hanah , Mohammed 's wife , told me , `` Helping my children with homework was the most difficult part of my day . '' But the family was caught in the epicenter of the civil war . Their hometown , Da'raa , is nicknamed `` The Cradle of the Revolution . '' Mohammed has scars and burns after being arrested and detained for six days . After getting out , he fled with his wife and seven children toward the Jordan border , fearing for their safety the whole way . The family 's oldest daughter , 11-year-old Rama , told me the road up and down mountains made her `` so scared I did n't talk . '' In Dohuk , where Wadha and her family now live in Iraqi Kurdistan , 100 other families are seeking refuge . There is no proper sanitation , and people have taken to relieving themselves in the open air . Heavy rains have caused flooding . These unsanitary conditions , experts believe , will lead to the spread of disease . As much as half of the vulnerable population is likely to need medical care . Wadha and her son Majdi , with his wife , are hopeful that the family 's 3-week-old baby will be among those who live through the winter . The family has n't named the baby girl yet , in case she does n't survive . Across the region , refugees need adequate shelter and other cold weather supplies such as coats , mattresses and blankets , boots and shoes , and socks and hats . World Vision is distributing kits with these materials . However , the need continues to grow . Wadha 's family has survived a harrowing few months , but the hardest 40 days are yet to come .
More than 6 million children are affected by the war in Syria , Richard Stearns says . More than 1.6 million children are refugees , he says . Many families who fled their homeland abruptly left everything behind , he says . Refugees need adequate shelter and cold weather supplies , Stearns says .