Story highlights Red Cross and IKEA joined forces for Syria

The campaign made IKEA customers walk through a real Syrian home

(CNN) In the middle of an Ikea store in Norway, between displays of comfortable, modern furnishings stood a strikingly small, almost empty room with naked cement walls.

The display, only 25 square meters, was meant to transport customers thousands of kilometers away, to Damascus -- to the world of Rana, a Syrian mother raising four children, as war rages around her.

The Norwegian Red Cross teamed up with Ikea to recreate Rana's small unfurnished apartment for a joint fundraising campaign

"When we had to flee to this area to find safety, we did not have enough money to rent a better place. We have no money to buy mattresses and blankets, or clothes for the children," Rana told the Red Cross team in charge of the project

Rana is raising four children, aged 4 to 6, in a small two-bedroom apartment in an unfinished building in Damascus.

Rana had to give up work as a teacher to take care of her family and ensure their safety. They depend on food parcels from Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) to survive, but the donations barely cover their needs.

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