Fields of work

One of the Women’s Foundation’s areas of work are educational programmes. The Women’s Foundation has established several kindergartens (which now are being managed by the municipalities) and it has established an orphanage in Kobanê. The very large building was constructed in 2016/2017 with financial support from Europe as part of the reconstruction of the nearly destroyed (80%) city and was put into operation in 2018. It was originally designed for orphans who lost their parents in the brutal war against the Islamic State (IS).

In collaboration with WELLE, Hanau, the orphanage staff was trained in trauma therapy. The Women’s Foundation has broken new ground by bringing up children in a non-familial context. In earlier years, children who were orphaned or did not live with their parents for other reasons, were sent to relatives or wealthy families, where they often provided cheap labour. The girls were often married off at a very early age.

In the building complex, next to the orphanage, in a side building, there is a small health station, offices and classrooms for the foundation, and a library. The side building also contains the rooms for the older girls of the orphanage and for the staff (kitchen, living room, dormitory).

There are currently 23 children living in the orphanage, eight of whom are small children, the smallest being 1 1/2 years old. There are 13 employees working there (the management, two teachers, employees for the day and night shifts, two women sleep in the house. There are two teachers for the kids who teach Kurdish, Arabic and visual art and one teacher works with the smaller kids focussing on playing, learning by playing, learning letters and so on.

The daily routine is organised in such a way that three women look after the children from 8 am to 7 pm, cook and are responsible for cleaning, while two women are responsible for the children overnight from 7 pm to 8 am. At each shift change, there is a meeting to discuss what happened during the shift, what is coming up…

There are fixed times for lessons, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lessons during the holidays take place from 9.00 am to 2.30 pm. The local school is currently being set up. As soon as it is ready, the children go there. Until then, they will be taught at the orphanage. When they go to the local school, they receive further lessons at the orphanage in the evening in the form of homework, extra tuition etc. When they finished their homework, the children are free to organise their own time.

In the afternoons there is free time, which can be organised as they wish, to give the children more freedom. Between 8.00 and 9.00 pm there is a fixed time together. For example, stories are read/told, films are watched, etc. The older girls (seven) have their bedrooms in the side building. The boys have a large room together, the little girls are accommodated together.

Three meetings take place every week (in this meetings there is space for evaluation and criticism/self-criticism that is helpful for resolving conflicts together and expressing needs):

• one meeting of the children with each other (moderated by the staff)
• a team meeting between the staff (reflection and exchange)
• a team meeting of children and staff together.

Topics include: life in the orphanage, relationships between the children, relationships between the children and the teachers, relationships between the staff-members among each other, need for improvement and its implementation. The children have their own meetings so that they can also criticise the staff (for example, there was a member of staff who has hit a child, which they reported in the meeting).

How do the children get to the orphanage?

The women’s committee of the self-administration is responsible for the placement of children. They first try to place the children in families – this is easier with small children, but increasingly difficult with older ones. The children are often traumatised, having experienced terrible things during the war or attacks, for example. So far seven children could be placed in families. The staff at the orphanage regularly visit these families to support them, to see if the children are doing well and to mediate in conflicts between families and children, for example.

There are many challenges in the work with the children:

They are aware of their special situation and sometimes wonder why their parents have given them up. The care-takers are not their own parents, which is new for the children and sometimes difficult when it comes to forming relationships. Many of the staff have children of their own, but in the work in the orphanage they have to provide a professional educational service in which the children feel loved and cared for.

The question of what to do with older children is also difficult. It is particularly difficult for older boys to find a perspective, as there are (still) no structures to take them in. Girls can be placed in female structures. We are currently working on the concept of a place for older boys.

What are the children’s wishes?

• comprehensive learning and teaching opportunities
• a perspective so that they also have the opportunity to study, for example

(Report of the delegation September 2023)

There are eight employees (including a manager and an employee responsible for the archive and press) in Autumn 2023.

Education offered: Health (first aid) / computers / tailoring / hairdressing / literacy / handicrafts

• The computer course exists of 45 units of 1-1 ,5 hour each. There is a high demand. One participant, aged 22, found out about the educational programmes offered by the Women’s Foundation through a friend. After graduating, she wants to work in self-administration.
• There are three sewing machines in the tailoring-workshop and the teacher has been working at the Women’s Foundation for four years. The training courses have been running since 2015. A course lasts three months. The teacher really likes the work. There are many requests, most of the women have no previous experience. They develop themselves and learn, and at the end of the course they can sew clothes etc. Due to the high demand, two courses are offered in parallel, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. After completing the course, some women continue to work from home, others go into workshops/sewing businesses.The employees have wishes for the future: they would like to expand in order to be able to offer more.
• The teacher of the hairdressing training programme is 28 years old. She has been there for a year and is currently offering her fifth course. She was already trained as a hairdresser and came to the foundation via facebook. The work was challenging for her at first, but things are going well now. The current course has also been split into mornings and afternoons due to high demand. The training lasts two hours a day, six days a week. The cours continues for three months and covers the following topics: hair cutting (people come from outside for this), hairstyles (the participants do each other’s hair), make-up (each other). The course ends with an exam and a certificate. Opportunities to work include having your own shop (usually at home, as the rent for shop premises is expensive). Many course participants come from neighbouring villages and want to open a hairdressing shop in their village. It is usually difficult for women to travel from the village to the city.
• The computer course exists of 45 units of 1-1 ,5 hour each. There is a high demand. One participant, aged 22, found out about the educational programmes offered by the Women’s Foundation through a friend. After graduating, she wants to work in self-administration.
• There are three sewing machines in the tailoring-workshop and the teacher has been working at the Women’s Foundation for four years. The training courses have been running since 2015. A course lasts three months. The teacher really likes the work. There are many requests, most of the women have no previous experience. They develop themselves and learn, and at the end of the course they can sew clothes etc. Due to the high demand, two courses are offered in parallel, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. After completing the course, some women continue to work from home, others go into workshops/sewing businesses.The employees have wishes for the future: they would like to expand in order to be able to offer more.
• The teacher of the hairdressing training programme is 28 years old. She has been there for a year and is currently offering her fifth course. She was already trained as a hairdresser and came to the foundation via facebook. The work was challenging for her at first, but things are going well now. The current course has also been split into mornings and afternoons due to high demand. The training lasts two hours a day, six days a week. The cours continues for three months and covers the following topics: hair cutting (people come from outside for this), hairstyles (the participants do each other’s hair), make-up (each other). The course ends with an exam and a certificate. Opportunities to work include having your own shop (usually at home, as the rent for shop premises is expensive). Many course participants come from neighbouring villages and want to open a hairdressing shop in their village. It is usually difficult for women to travel from the village to the city.
• A literacy course has just been completed.
• The last training course on handicrafts took place a month ago. The new course will wait until there are enough registrations. The teacher taught herself handicrafts and had already given courses before she came to the foundation.

For example, commissioned work was produced for the centre for the disabled in Kobanê. An exhibition is in preparation.

(Report of the delegation September 2023)

The clinic is located in the side building of the orphanage building complex. The paediatric clinic was opened on 21 April 2023 and was made possible by a donation from the family of Lorenzo Orsetti, a fallen internationalist. Besides treatment, education on health topics is offered.

There are two treatment rooms, a waiting room and an entrance room.

A paediatrician comes three days a week and a midwife comes three days a week to examine and care for pregnant women, a member of staff is responsible for administrative and preparatory work. She assists the doctor and the midwife, measures blood pressure, makes intraveneous accesses and records the treatments of the patients in a book. There is an ultrasound machine; for more extensive examinations and treatment of serious illnesses, patients must be referred to a hospital.

They want to be a contact point for women, especially for poorer women and women from the villages.

The women’s Foundation operates at 5 locations facilities for basic healthcare, the so-called Ari clinics. In Tepke, Qamişlo, Hesekê and Dirbêbesyê, basic healthcare is offered to women and children from financially disadvantaged families who otherwise have no access to the healthcare system. The service includes general medical, pediatric and gynecological examinations and

treatment in an outpatient setting. The specialist staff, consisting of doctors and nurses, are employed on a part-time basis. A symbolic amount (equivalent to 50-75 EURO cents) is charged for the treatment. Financially disadvantaged people and new refugees are treated free of charge. The prescribed medication is dispensed free of charge.

In the worsening situation under the low intensity war and years of embargo, water and

food shortages, the population is under enormous pressure. The psychological and physical strain is high and is affecting the health of people, especially women and children. In addition,

hundreds of thousands of people are currently displaced within Syria. The Ari clinics are important points of contact for many people. In addition to providing medical advice, diagnosis and treatment, they also contribute to prevention by educating people about medical issues and also provide support in emotional and mental crisis situations.

Training courses in first aid and nursing are offered in all WJAS offices. They last one month and participants receive a certificate at the end.

The foundation also offers further training to become a nurse, which enables graduates to work in clinics and surgeries.

All of the Women’s Foundation’s facilities near the border with Turkey offer first aid courses for the rural population in the villages close to the border. The people there have been exposed to a low-intensity war for years. Turkey repeatedly attacks the civilian population with drones and artillery. For example, people working in the fields are being deliberately shot. Due to the constant threat of a military invasion by Turkey, people are suffering from severe stress and anxiety. First aid courses are offered there to help them stabilize and empower themselves. Training in medical first aid enables people to take action themselves in the event of attacks and injuries, thus increasing the chances of survival of injured people until the arrival of rescue services or a care facility.

Procedure: Three employees of the Women’s Foundation visit the villages near the border, talk to the residents and motivate 3-5 volunteers to take part in the course.

The courses are offered locally for 18 – 25 participants (soon also available for men) and last 1 week. After successfully completing the course, each person receives a first aid kit with the material required for first aid.

Health campaigns on various topics also take place regularly. One example is “Pink Month” – a campaign on the topic of breast cancer (education, prevention, treatments) is held at various locations throughout the month of October. Other campaigns are adapted to the respective current waves of disease, for example influenza or corona, especially in the winter months, gastrointestinal diseases in summer, hygiene and water in the event of water pollution (cholera) and water scarcity. The aim is to provide preventive information about the above-mentioned diseases in order to protect the population prophylactically and prevent infection, as well as to publicize basic measures in the event of illness.

Health courses on various topics are offered regularly at all WJAS locations. Examples of courses: Breast cancer, infectious diseases, gynecological diseases, pediatrics. These are designed for all interested women and impart basic knowledge in the areas mentioned in order to improve the understanding of diseases and their development and to contribute to prevention and self-empowerment.

The mobile clinic is a joint project of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Dêrik e.V. city partnership and the Free Women’s Foundation in Syria. Since 2020, the Mobile Clinic has been providing basic medical care for women and children in various villages in the area surrounding the city of Dêrik three days a week. There is no comprehensive healthcare provision in the rural area in the north of North and East Syria (NES); women and children in particular do not have sufficient access to medical care and often have to travel long distances to the nearest clinic. Through the use of the Mobile Clinic, continuous basic medical care for women and children can be offered close to the population and their homes. Mainly infectious, gynecological and pediatric diseases are treated. The mobile clinic has an ultrasound machine and dispenses medication free of charge. In addition, health seminars and information events are held for the women in the villages. Further training events for medical staff are also planned.

The Women’s Foundation runs naturopathy centers in Hesekê and Dirbêsiyê. These centers offer naturopathic therapies, cosmetic treatments and courses in naturopathy for the general population.