Published : 08-12-2019
After more than eight years of bloody shootouts, Palestinian volunteers and relief officers in Syria continue to face dangerous challenges and threats from all warring parties.
AGPS documented the death of hundreds of Palestinian volunteers and the forced disappearance of hundreds more.
The story of Palestinian refugee Faten Umm Samih is one that has drawn the respect and admiration of people around her.
Called Umm Fares, the woman started her humanitarian work in Ghouta, in Damascus, shortly after the Syrian government imposed a tight cordon on the area.
Umm Fares has been cooking meals every day and handing them over to the most vulnerable persons.
Given the increase in demands and growth in needs, Umm Fares launched the “One Hand” charity, which distributes free meals to the most affected families in besieged zones. Food is carried through Umm Fares’s Suzuki car.
The charity’s work spread to other towns in Eastern Ghouta, from Zabdeen and Deir AlAsafeer to Beit Nayem, AlMuhammadiya, Marj AlSultan, and AlMidaa, down to Harsata.
Umm Samih defied the frightening sounds of shells and daunting scenes of bloodshed to reach the poor and needy using her car or walking on her own feet for several kilometers, never caring about the width of destruction and life-threatening risks she was taking with every single step.
“I will keep up my mission for the sake of children who have been deprived of their childhood”, she said.
On March 22, 2018, she packed her remaining belongings and headed with dozens of families to northern Syria, as the shelling had hit the climax.
But the woman never gave up. As soon as she reached northern Syria, she started anew, cooking meals and collecting funds to dozens of orphans in the area. She’s become known as “the Mother of Everyone”.
Umm Fares is a native of Yafa, north of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1948. She holds a B.A. in English from Damascus University and worked as a translator prior to the outburst of the Syrian conflict. She had been arrested three times for taking part in protests and was subjected to torture by Syrian security forces.
After more than eight years of bloody shootouts, Palestinian volunteers and relief officers in Syria continue to face dangerous challenges and threats from all warring parties.
AGPS documented the death of hundreds of Palestinian volunteers and the forced disappearance of hundreds more.
The story of Palestinian refugee Faten Umm Samih is one that has drawn the respect and admiration of people around her.
Called Umm Fares, the woman started her humanitarian work in Ghouta, in Damascus, shortly after the Syrian government imposed a tight cordon on the area.
Umm Fares has been cooking meals every day and handing them over to the most vulnerable persons.
Given the increase in demands and growth in needs, Umm Fares launched the “One Hand” charity, which distributes free meals to the most affected families in besieged zones. Food is carried through Umm Fares’s Suzuki car.
The charity’s work spread to other towns in Eastern Ghouta, from Zabdeen and Deir AlAsafeer to Beit Nayem, AlMuhammadiya, Marj AlSultan, and AlMidaa, down to Harsata.
Umm Samih defied the frightening sounds of shells and daunting scenes of bloodshed to reach the poor and needy using her car or walking on her own feet for several kilometers, never caring about the width of destruction and life-threatening risks she was taking with every single step.
“I will keep up my mission for the sake of children who have been deprived of their childhood”, she said.
On March 22, 2018, she packed her remaining belongings and headed with dozens of families to northern Syria, as the shelling had hit the climax.
But the woman never gave up. As soon as she reached northern Syria, she started anew, cooking meals and collecting funds to dozens of orphans in the area. She’s become known as “the Mother of Everyone”.
Umm Fares is a native of Yafa, north of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1948. She holds a B.A. in English from Damascus University and worked as a translator prior to the outburst of the Syrian conflict. She had been arrested three times for taking part in protests and was subjected to torture by Syrian security forces.
