Starting today, my colleague Marc Hanson and I will be in the Middle East to continue our field research on the situation of Syrian refugees. 

RI first looked at this crisis a year ago in Lebanon, when the number of refugees there was relatively small and assistance was distributed largely through local authorities and host families. No one expected the crisis to take on the proportions that it has since, nor last so long.

By any standard, one billion is a daunting number. How many grains of sand is one billion? How long would it take to eat one billion M&Ms? For policymakers and others who deal with national budgets on a daily basis, the concept of ‘one billion’ may not be so hard to grasp. But for most of us it borders on the incomprehensible.

This post originally appeared on The Hill's Congress Blog.

When you think of getting ready for winter in D.C., it seems straightforward enough: you pull out a heavier coat, a hat and gloves; throw a comforter on the bed; and set the climate control to 68 degrees. Quick and simple, right? But for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who are receiving humanitarian assistance, winter is a much more ominous prospect.

A former colleague of mine would often describe as “dynamic” any situation that had a lot of activity in it, be it constructive or not. A meeting in which people yelled at each other and stormed out of the room could be “dynamic.” So could a demonstration where passers-by on the street stopped to shout support for the protesters. And so could a football game among seven-year olds where the kids invariably ended up screaming at each other about unfairness but then cheerfully continued play.