In Syria, after almost ten years of war, bombings, people displaced from one city to another, job losses, growing unemployment and uncontrolled inflation, families are experiencing moments of great difficulty, aggravated by the consequences of the Covid19 epidemic.
In Homs, most families are displaced , those who saw their homes destroyed had to retreat into makeshift accommodation, overcrowding already densely populated neighborhoods. As often unfortunately happens, the war has led to the death of a large number of men, fathers and husbands, support for their families . In this scenario , women are an important point of reference . Despite not having completed, in most cases, their basic education, busy with domestic work, many have found themselves having to provide for the needs of the family because they have been orphaned or widowed. For this reason, within the Syria Emergency Program, Missio Aachen – Internationales Katholisches Missionswerk eV, a German non-profit organization that operates for charitable, religious, educational and scientific purposes, has financed two projects dedicated to women . The first, “ Promotion and Empowerment for Women in Homs”, wants to offer women educational support, with literacy, English and computer courses; it offers professional training, with courses for food production, soap and wax production, beautician and sewing courses with a psycho-social support program to help them recognize one’s own skills and abilities and claim one’s role in society. The second project is instead focused on the strengthening of professional skills, in particular a sewing course, which will allow participants to support their families by working on their own, but also in state or private laboratories. During the quarantine imposed by the restrictions to contain COVID19, a group of women remained active and in contact with the trainers via messages and calls, continuing their training and work from home, despite many having old or poorly functioning sewing machines. As soon as it was possible to travel again, the lessons resumed on a small scale while maintaining all the provisions for prevention and safety. In the Syrian scenario, devastated by years of war, it is essential to accompany women in the discovery of their development potential to contribute to the reconstruction of the country.
