AN AID worker from Inverclyde is operating in one of the most dangerous parts of the world to help refugees fleeing the bloody conflict in Syria.

Mum-of-one Annika Hampson is working tirelessly to rehouse thousands of families who have fled the war-torn country, where hundreds of people are being killed or badly wounded every day.

As a result of the crisis, more than 600,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into neighbouring Jordan, where Annika works as a project manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Despite the continual threat of terrorism in the country, the 39-year-old from Kilmacolm is on a mission to help the refugees.

She is in charge of the organisation’s Urban Shelter Project, which has already provided homes to more than 5,000 people.

Speaking from Amman, the capital of Jordan, where she lives with her French husband Michel and their son Emil, Annika says the plight of one refugee family stood out.

She told the Tele: “One woman who we helped had five children and she told me how delighted she was that her children had enrolled at school.

“But one of her sons was standing there in the living room and when he got up to make some tea I noticed that he wasn’t walking properly.

“I asked her why he wasn’t at school and she told me that when they were crossing the border a Syrian sniper fired at them and one of the bullets scraped the top of his head, which left him partially paralysed.

“She said that if he had been two centimetres taller then he would have been killed.” Annika oversees a team of 48 people, the majority of which are engineers, who are responding to the growing shelter needs in Jordan by providing financial incentives and technical support to Jordanian landlords in the north of the country.

In return, Syrian refugee families are provided with rent-free accommodation for 12-24 months.

Annika said: “In Jordan there are a lot of unfinished houses, so with our project we give the landlords money to finish the houses on the agreement that they will house the refugees.

“It’s a win-win situation as the landlords like it because they are finishing their houses, the refugees are getting homes and the Jordanian government gets investment in their local communities.

“Syrians now make up 10 per cent of the population, which is overwhelming for Jordan, as it’s not a wealthy country.

“The refugees are not allowed to work so they rely on food coupons and on their host communities, so we try and help them in any way we can.” Annika, who is a former pupil of St Columba’s School in Kilmacolm, works in Irbil, about 20 kilometres from the treacherous Syrian border.

She said: “Where I’m working is reasonably safe.

“We have had a few stray mortars which have came over the border but we are out of range.

“I feel safe and we have a good security team.” Annika has also worked in Angola and Palestine.

She said: “I’ve been working in humanitarian aid for more than 10 years.

“I found Africa more difficult as it’s much much poorer.

“I do find it embarrassing when people praise me for what I do.

“I’ve got a good job that I enjoy and I look forward to going to the office every day — I don’t think many people are in that position.

“I get a lot of satisfaction and fulfilment in doing something positive.” Annika’s dad Stephen Hampson, who is the chairman of Kilmacolm Community Council, regularly travels to Jordan to visit his daughter.

She said: “I don’t come home as much as I want to, but my dad comes here a lot, which is lovely.”