Syria’s government is trying to rebuild Aleppo, but war and neglect have made it a daunting prospect. On a recent trip from Germany, where he lives, to his hometown of Aleppo, Alhakam Shaar made a decision. He would not stay at a hotel or with friends. Instead, he would stay at what used to be his father’s office in Aleppo’s Old City. There was only one problem. “Not a single room had a closable window or door,” Shaar, who had been away from the city for a decade, told Al Jazeera. Aleppo’s winters are brutally cold, with temperatures reaching well below zero degrees Celsius. Still, he bought a sleeping bag that had been advertised as capable of withstanding extreme weather. “That didn’t turn out to be true, and I still woke up with cold toes many nights,” he said. But despite the cold...