Twitter
Advertisement

International Women's Day Special: How these heroic women in Syria are saving lives

The women volunteers of the search and rescue team in White Helmets, have beaten the odds to be valued just as much as their male counterparts.

Latest News
article-main
All Images Credit: Mayday Rescue
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

When communities in Syria are hit with barrel bombs (explosives dropped from a helicopter or plane), the White Helmets, a group of volunteers rush to the scene to dig for survivors, risking their own lives.

The White Helmets came to be as a result of the shelling and bombardment of civilian populations in Syria in March 2013.

"An initial training course led to the establishment of the first volunteer team in northern Aleppo and since then, the numbers have swelled," says Ola Suliman from Homs, project officer of Mayday rescue, which is the search and rescue training organisation that helps equip the White Helmets. "Now there are over 90 teams, with over 2,500 volunteers," she says. These volunteers provide their services to communities of more that 6,000 000 people in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Dera'a, Latakia, Homs and Damascus. 

Since October 2014, women have also been a part of the search and rescue team and have shown enormous strength and dedication under unimaginable circumstances. "Currently we have over 56 women embedded in the civil defence teams, and that number is going to get much higher soon," said Suliman who was instrumental in including more women in the rescue team.

Suliman says that while the women do fear for their own lives, they believe "it's dangerous everywhere" even if they were to stay in their own homes, so they'd rather be out there making a difference. These women are everyday mothers and wives who want to contribute in helping their fellow countrymen. Fatima, who is a mother of two young boys and a girl says, "In one of the most dangerous places in the world, I am a volunteer for the White Helmets in Idlib. I help save people from destruction, from the daily barrel bombs and other attacks on Syrian civilians," she says.

However, at first, women like Fatima were faced with a backlash from their communities for taking up the task of search and rescue since there were many who felt it was a man's job. "We got feedback from the community that this is not a woman's job, and the leaders started preferring bringing men to the training," says Suliman.

However, a fatal incident during a rescue mission changed the way the community viewed the role of the women volunteers and they realised the crucial role they played during a rescue mission. "A young woman trapped under the rubble was refusing to be rescued by men, as the explosion had caused her clothes to shred. She was embarrassed to have a man seeing her like that," said Suliman. "So one of the previously trained women stepped up and saved her."

The incident caused the community to change their mind and the same people that once told them it's a man's job, started asking to bring women to the training, Suliman shares.

Currently, these first responders have saved over 12,500 Syrian civilians and are now doing much more than just saving lives. "The work of the teams now goes well beyond rescue operations to include operating air raid networks, community outreach at schools, electricity and water connection, evacuation of civilians from fighting, burials and provision of shelter," says Suliman.

The women of the White Helmets all have the same vision for their turbulent country. "They want peace and a chance to rebuild their country. They want the killing machine of the regime to stop, so they can help their communities get the chance to build the free Syria they all dream of," stresses Suliman.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement