Just to try to love people
and give a hand
“Remember, there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
نحن الأبطال الخارقين - WE ARE SUPERHEROES is a small association that I created to give a voice and help marginalized communities around the world through small social, educational and psychological programs, try to strengthen their autonomy: Slums, quarantines, conflict zones, I improvised missions that were adapted to needs and often oriented towards young people to help them to believe in themselves, build or rebuild their landmarks step by step. I called this association We Are Superheroes because the main objective was to help people rebuild themselves and learn to believe in themselves. Finally arrived in Syria, with the war, I tried to build projects to try to help. It's not about "playing the organization's" it's about being human and trying to help as best as possible. So far, I fund a lot on my own because I wanted to help as much as I could in the way that felt right to me. All these small programs are in this mentality, for life, hope, the future and try to help especially young people to rebuild themselves.
#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
#3 RISING VOICES
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 - Together
We opened a shelter dedicated to injured animals and to give them a second chance by adoption.
#6 STREET 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.
THE HUMANITARIAN SCHOOL
Because we have a lot to learn form each other, a free school to help people to help through collective intelligence.
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
Despite the war people keep going on every day with courage
“ To really change the world, we have to help people change the way they see things. Global betterment is a mental process, not one that requires huge sums of money or a high level of authority. Change has to be psychological. So if you want to see real change, stay persistent in educating humanity on how similar we all are than different. Don't only strive to be the change you want to see in the world, but also help all those around you see the world through commonalities of the heart so that they would want to change with you. This is how humanity will evolve to become better. This is how you can change the world. The language of the heart is mankind's main common language. ”
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
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 THE HUMANITARIAN SCHOOl
Because we have a lot to learn form each other, a free school to help people to help through collective intelligence.
In Aleppo and Syria the war circumstances make it complicated if you want to help, both because everybody is tired and because it’s hard to join organisations in term of available 8 time or access. After emotional support and training we help people who want to make a difference to create their class or activities. We try to make it easy and genuine, we encourage people to teach what they love the most even if they didn’t study it and to engage themselves at little minimum of 4 hours a month as a first step, because no excuses, everybody has 4 hours a month to give to help. It’s all about collective intelligence, to work together, to learn from each other, to join our networks and each one of us to make little efforts to make a difference and to empower people through a sort of « out of the box » philosophy of social work.
#5 SHELTER - Together
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
3D members construction for kids
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.
A school in 5' for 0$
Street-teaching in 20 cities
2 - 3 times a month, I continue my little educational experience that consists in sharing skills in the street with anyone who needs it and doesn't especially have that opportunity. (Languages, HR, entrepreneurship ...) My idea may look miserable, but when I look closer to it, I see, for example, a school built in 5 minutes right in downtown Los Angeles that has for only investments a few hours, patience and a piece of cardboard. All of this to benefit people who really need it and to provide them with skills that can help to make the difference. From an entrepreneurial point of view, it is called "lean" (?) These meetings are always interesting, former gang members, homeless people, workers, students and all types of individuals. It affects people walking by, it affects people who decide to come and help and finally, it affects a lot of curious ones that come and start talking to me. This happens every time. In these moments, some are shy and curious and just slow down as they pass. They do not dare to stop but they smile to me. That keeps you warm when you have been staying outside doing this for 5h.
New steps for former gang members
“Blood in, blood out”
Pushed or pulled, there is no minimum age to belong to a gang or sell drugs in the street for a cartel. Negative outside factors, barriers, and conditions in the social environment such as poverty, family problems, and lack of success in school, there are a lot of reasons. I've been working with different people to help children and teenagers to stay out / get out of a gang by trying to provide them with an alternative, a purpose (youth sport for example). Short-term gang members are generally able to leave the gang without serious consequences. I mostly worked on my own in the streets with former gang members. The first objective was to get their trust. The concept of street-school (article "A school in5' for 0$") was for example a great way to be visible and to introduce myself to random gang & former members. (MS13, Barrio18, TVR, Crips) You have no idea of the work they have to do, and the many barriers they face to get out of it such as tattoos, self image, lack of employment skills, lack of official documents, lack of methods for obtaining a job, personal issues such as anger issues, family conflict, mental health issues, and involvement in substance abuse. My work, I am aware of it, was definitely incomplete with the fact that I could not create a long term link and help. However, I feel that it helped them to find a new start, set goals, identify their skills, qualities and empower their self-esteem. A modest help but priceless for them.
Fukushima prohibited radioactive area
Meeting "ghosts"
I came here with a local Japanese, we escaped from the police and we were able to enter in the area surrounding the nuclear plant. Initially the objective was to meet people who still live in this radioactive area, sometimes up to 11 mSv. I decided to go further, to see by myself what's happening here. One reason which probably justifies that there was more police in Fukushima than in Tokyo is probably (among other things) because they bury and store thousands of radioactive barrels on the ground in the fields. I went inside abandoned buildings half-destroyed by the earthquake, it was an apocalyptic vision but terribly realistic.
Génocides in South Africa
Or "xenophobia attacks"
Some people prefer to call these attacks ‘xenophobic’ but you cannot deny that these killings target specific groups of people. Men armed with machetes, trees burned down on the side of the road, the pillaging of the centre of the old CBD where dozens of men and women elbow each other out of the way to get into bread shops probably belonging to Ethiopians people, the latter being the target of South Africans who believe they are helping to reduce their unemployment rate by increase job opportunities if they kill foreigners settling in South Africa, the atmosphere over there is indescribable, apartheid has mutated
The Death Train
Freedom or the entry way to hell
Facing the "Bestia", this train killing many dailly migrants attempting to enter Mexico and to the USA. living in Mexico with a small group of Mexicans, Las Patronas. For 20 years they fed every day men, women and children who try to escape from violence in Central America. They take real risks every day, first because assisting migrants is considered as a crime in Mexico, but also with theses trains whose have no mercy for life. They sacrificed their personal lives and are an example of courage, self-sacrifice, intelligence ... and so on ! I noticed that it is both an emergency, they cross in conditions that makes their life expectancy very low ... but also a beautiful moment, a game, they tend hands to catch the bags, water bottles, some jump from the train and run with us, they try at all costs to catch something, everyone laughs, those on the roof screaming for our attention, the train noise is terrible and we must be on guard with these pieces of metal protruding from all sides ... a moment of levity where we become back children a few minutes ... before the train leave, the connection breaks and we return to our lives, we say goodbye... Standing on the cars, their silhouettes and "muchas gracias" echoing in the wind, then, silence. We go back to work preparing the next train.
Waste lands around the world
A more realistic world
I lived in 11 slums in Africa, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Argentina, Brazil. I wanted to give a voice to these extraordinary communities living outside the world we know. Nobody wants to live in a slum, it is a dangerous and ruthless world. But there is always one or more reasons which explain why they're here, and it is these reasons that allow us to understand, to learn, who are they, as human being and not as "Slum people". We put too many labels on people, so scared to recognize ourselves and keep the feeling, that situation, for example, is far from us, that can never happen. However... Rewarding but tough, it's a challenge, you need first of all to be accepted and to deserve their confidence. Children playing in the sewers with dead rats, drug traffickers that surround the slums, shootings, fire. I almost die twice there ... But despite the dangers, it's the most realistic world, made up of families, generosity, love and greatness. There is much to learn from slums and those who are struggling every day here to survive.
Make a project with us for Aleppo
If you have an association or an idea of project you would like to create in Aleppo.
If you want to participate in skills, ideas, network or whatever for the existing projects.