Syrian Refugee Women Find Help, Hope & Healing
Syrian refugee women in Irbid were provided a safe haven to express their most urgent concerns and receive free psychosocial support, training, and referral services.
September 2015
Irbid, Jordan (ACCTS-AWT) – Over a span of six months in 2015, we trained 400 vulnerable Syrian refugee women in Irbid, Jordan through Psychosocial Workshops that targeted critical issues faced by refugee women today. Session topics included teaching and awareness training on gender-based violence, women’s health, child marriage, children in armed conflicts, conflict resolution in the family, parenting tips, the grieving cycle and steps to experience healing from deep loss and pain.
As a result of these workshops, ACCTS has referred 149 unique cases to partner organizations for refugees to receive specialized follow-up services. Among some of the referred cases, the following core needs were addressed: gender-based violence and protection, health and physical illnesses, mental health and psychosocial support, and child protection.
“My whole life changed for the better.”
-comment by a Syrian participant
The AWT coaches poured a significant amount of passion and dedication into the planning and implementation of these workshop sessions. They were marked by an atmosphere of trust that fostered open and honest discussion among the women. Coaches and attendees were in complete harmony, acting as if they all belonged to one family without regard to differences in race, religion or nationality as they walked through sensitive issues together.
“I am psychologically changed; I started to love life despite the pain and the suffering.”
– Comment by a Syrian participant
Over the course of the workshops, AWT coaches prayed with two Syrian ladies. AWT staff have exchanged contact information with the women and have been working to maintain relationships with them.
Another young Syrian lady shared the following, “I was a victim of early marriage. I lived for years with mixed feelings of fear, anger, sadness, bitterness, and pain. But now you helped me release them. My feelings changed toward my husband; on one hand I began to see the positive image in him and to behave in a better way, and on the other hand he himself started to pay attention to the smallest details in our lives. I will not allow my daughter to suffer as I did. I’ll make sure she completes her studies.” For more stories of change.
The transformational effect of these Psychosocial Workshops for Syrian refugee women has been powerful to witness. We hope that we will be able to continue to provide these workshops and refine them to meet the current needs of the refugee women, as they have been highly acclaimed and welcomed in the community.
If you would like to learn more about what ACCTS is doing in Jordan, such as humanitarian relief projects for Syrian refugees and radio programs for women, click on the available links.
The following headline was posted by Amy Church on World Humanitarian Day to acknowledge the amazing men and women giving their all to help those who need it the most.
The following flyer was written by Wageningen to highlight the work being done in Irbid by ACCTS-AWT.
You may also hear more news in the field of distribution, such as the following radio updates from Premier Christian Radio; a British Christian radio station: Update 1, update 2, update 3, update 4.
