For months, Dr. Ghazwan Acash and his wife have watched the news and worried. Their families live in Damascus and its suburbs, and they are now virtually homebound by escalating violence between the Syrian government and rebel forces. Millions more Syrians have been displaced.

Acash lives in Burlington, where he is a pulmonologist and intensive care physician at Lahey Clinic. He had sent money and prayers, but “you always feel like you’re not doing enough,” he said. “You always feel that you want to go there, and you want to help, with myself. I wanted to give with my hands.”