“Challenges create capabilities, opportunities, and perhaps even miracles”: Meet Rola, chairwoman and passionate community volunteer

My name is Rola Ali Awwad and I am 35 years old. I was born in Damascus and currently live in Salamieh, a city in western Syria.

I have been blind since childhood and I am proud of what I have accomplished despite my disability. I work as a switchboard operator at the National Hospital of Salamieh and I am a teacher at AKF’s AGENCI (Adolescent Girls’ Education in Crisis Initiative). I am also a chairwoman at A Drop of Hope Childcare Association, which I co-founded in 2017. Outside of work I enjoy chess, swimming, and playing the oud which is a traditional stringed instrument from this region.

I grew up in a close-knit family of five. When I was seven, I enrolled at a boarding school for the blind, where I stayed until I was eighteen. I found it difficult to accept my disability and be far away from home, but my family always encouraged me, and this motivated me to persevere on my academic journey.

After school, I studied Sociology at the University of Damascus and started volunteering at the Studies Centre for Handicapped Research – where my love for volunteering began.

In 2017, I was working with a group of volunteers and through our work, we saw an urgent need to support children who were greatly affected by the conflict in Syria. Many lacked access to education, good nutrition, and physical and psychological care. To address these challenges, we established A Drop of Hope Childcare Association – the first childcare association in Salamieh.

Today, our association has 300 volunteers who support childcare and creative initiatives that increase social cohesion in our community. We empower women in Salamieh by providing legal support workshops, vocational training, and entrepreneurship opportunities, in turn enabling them to better support their children.

Aside from my role as chairwoman at A Drop of Hope, I am currently responsible for helping to coordinate an AKF initiative that aims to enhance access to education for adolescents in Syria, especially girls who have dropped out of school. In this role, I have also helped to mobilise donations of local resources and support for a variety of marginalised groups. So far, we have raised funds for over 20 surgeries, accessed 25 wheelchairs for people with disabilities and secured health insurance cards for 1,600 people.

It brings me happiness to make these important contributions to my community. From a young age, my parents instilled in me a passion for helping others. As an adult, I have proved to myself and my community that I am capable of helping those in need. I am especially proud to have motivated the girls and women in my community to become more involved in voluntary work.

Every day, I see more people in my community who need support. Whilst this troubles me, I try to approach every situation with a positive attitude. I have learned that challenges create capabilities, opportunities, and perhaps even miracles. I often say, “Whoever is satisfied, lives,” – meaning that a person who is satisfied with themself and has compassion for others can set a great example for others to follow. This is known amongst my friends, family and colleagues as ‘Rola’s quote’!

My advice to others is to expand their horizons by increasing their level of education, no matter their age or circumstance. I also encourage every person who is capable of voluntary work to contribute to their community. Given my disability, it was not easy for me to attain my bachelor’s degree or to get to where I am today, but I have succeeded because of my determination and optimism.

My future ambitions are to complete my master’s degree, to improve my English, and to expand the work of A Drop of Hope Association.