Country/region: Syria
Conflict:
Organisation: Initiatives of Change
Field of work:
Iman Alghafari joined Initiatives of Change when she lived in Canada. Her passion was to build bridges between Muslims and non- Moslims and between Arabs and the West.. Initiatives of Change is an international organizationtthat was located in Canada where Iman was introduced to. It focuses on inner change that leads to outer change. Iman brought back to her first home country Syria this movement and its methodology. Iman quotes ” I never thought Syria would experience wars nor would need for bridging. However the conflict my country had faced showed there is always a huge need for building inner peace and humanity ). In 2012 Iman started running programs such as (Creators of Peace, Trust Building, Leadership, Conflict Resolutions, Healing The Wounds of The Past and Inner Listening) that IofC has launched. She started applying them in Damascus in different NGOs that were established during the war to support Syrian families from all over the country who have fled to the capital and the citizens as well.
Empowering women to bear the task of inner change and share change has been the goal. These programs provided a safe space for women to share their feelings, concerns, fear and hope. Creators of Peace program has allowed women to see life from different angel and go out of the box they have been in. These programs allowed participants to put their religious and political convections out and got together as humans who share the same love, passion, hope and fear. This has proved that we are all the same and we can work together for our country and people.
The mession has been to learn, be aware, change, share and make a change around us. This needed visions, programs, followships, positivity and work. Hundreds of women have experienced this movement and created bonds among the groups from different dinominations and backgrounds. A safe space has been created for them all to listen to their inner voices, fear and passion and also to be listened to. These women are teachers, mothers, daughters and members of the society. The last 5 years these programs have been provided to youth male and female together and applied in schools to support teachers and parents.
Iman quotes “Such work needs to be done before wars and conflicts to prevent huge damages“.