WE ARE SUPERHEROES
Be inspired by yourself
نحن الأبطال الخارقين - We Are Superheroes
When I was little I grew up with Syrian refugees, my family taught them french and I spend years at their side like my own family. The reason I stay here is that my country and most of the western countries are lying and erasing the life in Aleppo to legitimate their war when every day we were bombed by dozens of rockets and mortars from terrorists groups who bring nothing but death. To give a voice to people to transmit another truth about the situation here to defend the people here and sensibilize the people outside to empower the life and maybe make a difference for a city and a country I truly love for which I truly care as if I was Syrian.
I called this association "We Are Superheroes" because the main purpose of it was about helping people to rebuild themselves. The war get worse and it became very difficult, so step by step I built projects which could bring something valuable in fonction of the situations I met. It's not about being an association, it's about being human and trying to help your best when you can. Until now I've been financing nearly everything by myself because I wanted to help as much as I could in the way I believed it was the best for people. All these little programs are in this mindset, to make sens about life, about hope, about future and try to step by step improve their feelings.
To understand my presence and our work. I do not have any pretention in this work, I just do my best to help, support, build etc. In different countries in recent years with mostly my own resources and I will continue for the next year here in Aleppo if not more ... but whatever the sacrifices or risks taken, there are hundreds of people already fighting all the Days for years to help people survive, to continue, long before I set foot in Syria, some gave their lives for it. I am only a small drop of water today and does not deserve so much honors. Hundreds of messages, thousands of followers, ... thank you, it is really encouraging, but many are fighting here for a long time and we do not talk enough, I do not like to be on the But I have no choice, I have to testify ... even if the ocean is made up of water drops united together, even if each one brings something, make no mistake, they are the true heroes today. Dont get me wrong, these programs, theses logos are only a way to explain, not a way to over-valorize my work, to play the association-role, I'm Pierre and I'm just doing the best I can.
#1 FIRST AID program for youth and adults to empower their reactions, self-confidence and save lives. Medical boxes distribution with training
#2 EMOTIONAL FIRST AID program including several psycho-social activities. During the week 4 classes for 120 youth - Individual help 47 youth from 15 to 17 yo.
#3 RISING VOICES for peace.
Social exchanges project between schools but also gathering stories of the Aleppo population to make sens about the situation and call for peace.
#4 CINEMA program 300 to 500 places every month. To rebuild the imagination and hope. To see that life is not limited to war, opens their heart, hope, breathe
#5 SHELTER - Rifq
We opened a shelter dedicated to injured animals and to give them a second chance by adoption.
#6 STREET EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL
Educational project to give better chances to street children instrumentalized by mafia or begging in the street
#7 SOCIAL ACTVITIES
Community support, education and empowerment mainly dedicated to children and youth.
SEED HOPE PROJECT
(on his way)
Construction of vegetable gardens in refugee areas and training of families, children to plant vegetables and take care of them.
A DREAM
(on his way)
To realize the dreams of sick children - very handicapped by war wounds
- To empower hope and self-confidence
#1 FIRST AID war reactions
To save blood to save time and to save time to save blood.
Since the liberation the situation in the city center is better but the armed groups are only at 4Km and keep bombing 35% of the city. Since I arrived I had to take care of several people who get injured by a rocket and a mortar nearby me, I could save only 3 on 5 because of a lack of help. Most of the people don’t dare to help injured people after attacks because of the risks (another mortar for example) but finally most of the people want’s to help, but don’t know what to do and how. They feel powerless and the impact on their personal psychology is worse. Teaching these skills would give more power and reflex for people to react to these situations . We could save 20 to 25 % of « standby » lives. By sensibilisation of people about first aid actions, reflex, exemple: with personnel outlets like belt, stopping hemorrhagic before to send a victim in a car to save his blood during transportation. Asking in advance his blood category before he passed out and put it in his face to save time in hospital. (...)
+30 Training for youth and adults to empower their reactions - self-confidence and save lives. (scouts, schools and individuals in their homes, particularly in bombed areas.)
Health courses precautions in few families to prevent complications
Distribution of medical supplies (first aid kit) in different complicated areas of Aleppo.
Project of Micro-first aid kit for children and families
Specific medecine importation
Sad reality of the war
To save blood to save time and to save time to save blood.
Initially I’m a professional rescuerfrom the civil protection in Paris but the situations here ask for immediate reactions out of any protocol. This is why I created this project after assisting during few attacks. I don’t want to publish picture of dead people or very injured but anybody need to understand what does it mean. Here few links:
About this picture - Parc Attacks - Refugee camp - Bullets - School bombing
An important initiative for the long term
Thanks to volunteers in the medical field we could continue this program. Still today there are a lot of attacks on the city. The way we teach the 1st aid is special, it’s all about « system D » and main reflexes to be able to save somebody by using anything at your disposition on you or around you. It’s also a great way to empower the self-confidence of the people we train by giving them the power to be able to react in any situation.
#2 CINEMA and hope
To see that life is not limited to war, opens their heart, hope, breathe
300 to 500 places every month. We used to receive a lot of rockets around but we maintained it. To allow young people of all ages and families an access to cinema is to open a window on the world to them, to allow them to see that life is not limited to war, opens their heart, travels, Identify themselves with their heroes, regain confidence and breath a little. It is an important program from the moment we makes sens about and where young people learn lessons. For kids you know, you can show them a film and teach them elementary lessons that even in 6 months of workshops, classes you could not make them get in the head and inspire them. Around than 4 500 invited until now.
One of my first initiatives during the war
It was hard to be able to try to create something here in Aleppo with the situation and the bombings, ... but this was probably one of the most positive and inspiring experience, it was an amazing way to bring so much in a so short time. Most of the youth and families never been to the cinema at that moment, it was really special for them. Still today, between October and February I continue the program for families and children but nearly only through animations films which can bring them inspiration.
#3 EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE for children and youth
The most important is to rebuild the human. I strongly believe in that.
Even if they try to hide it, the war has been really invasive for any people and for the youth especially, it means 2 wars for them, one about the war itself and the other one about their youth problems at their age also. I plan, if my means and energy allow it, to build a more complet program with a dedicated space for that.
The program is in a school called Amal (Monday, Thursday, Friday) 4 classrooms every week (120 children from 14 to 17) to help them to empower their self confidence, to believe in tomorrow and to solve psychological - personal questions though specific activities and workshop in class. Because I can spend more time with them and getting close, I used this opportunity to bring more activities and purposes for the school and the students.
There are 47 children who asked for individual help, I organize individual meetings (2 to 4 per week) and will soon organize little group discussions about problem they share.
This project include 3 micro-social projects and meetings to help different groups of youth to manage to know better about the others, help and know about themselves.
My priority
During the war the situation was easiest somehow, or you live or you die, I was working on their traumas in a easiest way. Now it’s much more complex: before the children were condemned to die, ... now the war is slowing down a bit and the armed groups out of the center ... they’re kind of condemned to live ... which mean no way to escape. I spend a lot of time in class and outside where I have a desk open every week to help the youth with their traumas but also they adolescent issues. They hide it very well to look strong, to don’t be rejected, but actually the war impacted them much more than we can imagine. It’s a priority to rebuild these youth from inside, to help them to believe in tomorrow even if the war is still there, to believe in themselves and to make dreams.
LIFE SKILLS every week
To help the youth to discover themselves
Because of the war Every week (every Saturday) meeting for a program of life skills discussion and games to raise the awareness about their life responsibilities, the understanding of others and important every-day knowledge. Every week in the same day a new workshop helping them to discover, practice and maybe find new passions. (1 - Danse / 2- Photography / 3 - First Aid / 4 - Social projects.
MICRO SOCIAL projects - 1 Good Action, pay it forward
Because discovering and helping others is helping yourself
Youth and children for volunteering and social initiatives to help them growing.
- Animal project dedicated to care for lost animals in Old Aleppo with a group of Syrian Army who rescued them. You can't help humans without helping all lives.
- Old people activities every month. To connect the youth with the elders and fight the loneliness . With the war, most of the families of these people get killed or travelled.
-Volunteering during the other projects.
#4 RISING VOICES for peace
Because life is stronger than war
- Initially it’s the program to collect and share Syrians stories to give a voices to people here and sensibilize western countries on the reality on the ground (around 90 testimonies). If you look at foreign media, about WEST ALEPPO before the liberation, we show you the ruins, black flags floating in all the streets, collapsed buildings, missiles illuminating the sky ... death, but we didn’t show the hundreds of thousands of people for whom life continues here despite the war with courage and resilience, tens of thousands of children who go to school every day, hundreds of shops still open ... no. Aleppo is the face of the war in Syria, everybody are talking about Syria outside but finally for the wrong reasons, and everybody have forgotten those who are living there. Making sens about what's really happening in Aleppo, the life, the stories, the reality,
- Another project connected is the connection between schools around the world and schools in Syria.
CONNECTING children from Syria and from the world
we are connecting volunteers classes from schools from around the world (9 classes in 5 countries) in real time with classes in Aleppo, to to open a window on the world for Syrians and another window for the world on Syria. It’s a cycle of exchanges betweens classes, groupes (scouts), and university students. The project is not only to create a discussion, but also to eventually bring common projects and ideas, another way to fight the war
#5 SHELTER - Rifq
We opened a shelter dedicated to injured animals and to give them a second chance by adoption.
A shelter initiative opened in 2017 dedicated to sensibilisation and treating stray injured animals to give them a second chance by adoption. We started the initiative more than a year ago by taking care of injured animals, financing the food for the animals and owners who struggle to feed them with the economic situation in different neighborhoods but also the medicines to treat the animals. Now since half a year we have our own shelter. We have a collaborative team of 10 volunteers (including a veterinary who help the project in terme of care) dedicated to signal the animals in need, carry them and follow - feed them.
A life is a life.
I remember during the worse moments of the war a lot of situations, people dying, the fear, the explosions, the life ... like for any war ... but I remember situations where I saw 2 time animals dying in the same time as humans, once a dog running in flames after a rocket and a dead cat injured from shrapnels after a mortar. I found other animals affected by the war, I see them everyday in fact ... I love animals on the first place, but this shocked me day after day and I decided to try to create something to try eventually to make a difference.
#6 STREET EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL
Sell, not beg. For a better cohesion and future
They are or used or forgotten - they need to be empowered
There are different groups of children in the street - or selling biscuits, gums etc. or begging for money, they come or from mafia networks or from families really poor or doesn’t have parents anymore (dead, displaced in terrorist areas, fighters ...) whatever their situation is, this os not their fault and it’s really important to give them a hand before they get totally marginalized from the « normal » society. The program is simple:
We collect infirmations about children in the street and we choose « classes »
The classes are 2 to 3 time a month.
They are offered 500 SYP, a sandwich and sweets for every session of 1H30
#7 SOCIAL AND LOVE SUPPORT projects
Different projects in the city to show that people matter.
It's difficult to manage to create projects in these conditions, especially since most of them were on my own money, security, etc. Hopefully I've friends and volunteers to help me there and we've been trying to make little projects to show love, cohesion. To simply care in the best way possible, in the best way we could.
Christmas after the liberation, gift distribution to the recent refugees
Surviving blankets and blankets distribution for families with the strong cold
Ramadan distribution of dates for poor families
Camp for children in difficult neighborhoods
Families photoshoot. They lost everything, photos matter more than anything
LONG TERM PROJECTS ON THEIR WAY IF EVERYTHING GOES FINE
SEED HOPE
Sustainable vegetable garden for refugees and teaching activities
Construction of vegetable gardens in refugee areas (Hanano designation of other places which can be chosen in case of Jabreen wont work) and training of families, children to plant vegetables and take care of them. People are dependent on the help from associations, empowering people, rebuilding the human is essential. Not only is it essential to the mentality of families but especially to the children, to help them to rebuild themselves in a healthy way, by example and by learning how to "DO" rather than "RECEIVE" It is a true playground, long-term project development opportunities to enrich these areas, activities and above all help people to overcome war otherwise, to strengthen cohesion, "reconciliation". A long-term project, but above all with a long-term impact at different levels, especially: education, psychology, environment, nutrition.
Realisation Team: Doctor Lana Al Amin (nutritional program) / Fateh Sabbah (specialist agronomist) / Nour Sawas / Rania Hillal / Emil Azar.
A DREAM
Realize the dreams of sick children - very handicapped by war wounds
To realize the dreams of sick children and / or very handicapped by war wounds with associations and the University Hospital Cancer department for Sick Children. Monthly workshops with selected children depending on the severity of their case to find out what they want to do with their lives, help them to figure out what their dream is. We know that these children will not have the same lifespan as a normal child. Also the war, the economic situation even prevents them from receiving preferential treatment as a sick child as we can in Europe or Parents bet all they have on them, aware of the limited time of their children's lives. Here, unfortunately, with war, even healthy young people do not have much hope or opportunity. Mobilization of internal and international actors to sponsor children according to their dreams and mobilization of youth as volunteers, to sensibilise them on the situation of these complicated childhood.
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