Damascus, Dec.13 ( SANA) Syrian women have played a pivotal role during the years of the revolution against the deposed regime that exhausted the country for many years.
Carrying the torch of change, they participated in protests against oppression, tended to the wounded and sick in field hospitals, and transformed displacement tents into schools, embodying all the meanings of sacrifice and resilience at times of the war.
They also played roles as civil society activists contributing to the shaping of a new Syrian identity.
From a teaching tent to leading social work in Idleb
Ahlam Al-Rashid, displaced from the town of Has in the countryside of Maarrat al-Numan, devoted her life to serving displaced children, women, and youth during the revolution, becoming one of the prominent figures in civil work in Idleb. She now manages the Directorate of Social Affairs.
Al-Rashid told SANA that she initially worked to give children the opportunity to learn despite war, displacement, and deprivation.
She said: “In Atma Camp, under an olive tree, I turned my tent into a classroom for children who had lost their schools and obtained educational materials from a school that survived the bombing.”
As a result of her work to combat school dropout, support survivors, and empower women, Ahlam received international awards, including being listed among the 100 most influential women in the world in 2018 and receiving the Gold Medal for Change Makers.
In 2021, she helped build a private school in the Atma area, opening its doors to children of martyrs and detainees who could not continue their education due to financial hardships.
A Civil Voice Confronting Repression with Words and Images
Meanwhile, activist Sasha Ayoub participated in demonstrations from the very early days of the Syrian revolution, carrying a message against violence within a peaceful civil movement.
She emphasized that her message was that real change is built through awareness and conscience, not weapons, proving that civil voices can endure fear.
Ayoub recalls the slogans she and her colleagues chanted in the early years of the revolution, writing messages calling for freedom and dignity on walls, distributing flyers, and throwing colored balls in various neighborhoods in Damascus, saying: “We went out believing in the power of words.”
Ayoub was arrested during the 2011 Damascus Intellectuals’ demonstration along with a group of artists, writers, and activists.
They faced violence and intimidation, but their will and love for freedom served as a beacon for all those advocating peace.
She noted that her current work as Executive Director of the “Stories Film” documentary organization in Damascus allows her to convey the community’s experiences in full detail.
A Field Nurse Carrying Her Family’s Pain to Heal Others
Alaa Al-Shami was not just a Syrian girl who had to leave school due to the war; she became a symbol of women who found themselves at the heart of the revolution.
She chose to be part of the force supporting those around her, bearing double burdens as she stood by her family, exemplifying the resilience of Syrian women and their ability to carry responsibilities beyond their years and circumstances.
Al-Shami explained that her work in a field hospital in the Qaboun area of Damascus began after her father’s release from prison in 2013. He urgently needed treatment, but several facilities refused him due to his detention history, so she decided to help, saying: “They arrested and tortured my father for assisting the revolutionaries, then he was released needing treatment, and no one helped us, so I decided to help everyone.”
She noted that her five brothers joined the ranks of the revolutionaries from the early days. Her eldest brother, Alaa, was imprisoned for four years after defecting from the former regime’s army, while her brother Abdul Rahim was martyred in 2017 during a battle in Ghouta, and the family could not retrieve his body.
Another brother, Nadheer, suffered serious injuries from cluster bomb attacks on Ghouta in 2016 when he was only fifteen years old.
