Being Free to Run Part 2: Kasnazan
“Honestly, when I run, I feel a refreshing sensation of happiness, all the negative thoughts inside my head just STOPS. I feel FREE.” - Nora
Fifteen year-old Nora left her home in Syria during the civil war. Her family moved to Erbil, leaving everything behind, in an attempt to start a new life away from the atrocities of war. According to a 2019 report ‘Far from Home’ led by the Danish Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee and Norwegian Refugee Council, whilst the regional refugee response to the Syrian crisis has largely focused on Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, less is known about the situation of Syrian refugees in Iraq. The majority of the Syrian refugees in Iraq are of Kurdish ethnicity, however, although the study found that the shared Kurdish identity facilitates local integration to a certain extent, overall there are still a number of barriers facing Syrian refugees. Whether that be socio-cultural barriers resulting in Syrians facing mistrust by the host community, limited access to education, diversion of humanitarian assistance from refugees to the internally displaced persons (IDP) communities, and that, currently, there is no legal pathway offered to Syrian refugees to obtain Iraqi citizenship. Such a legal restriction, means that there remains a significant barrier to full integration as well as basic freedom of movement.
This year, our program in Iraq expanded to the Kaznaszan community, a community considered to be one of the biggest urban areas receiving refugees from Syria. When asking some of the participants about what it means to be free to run, not only do they discuss having found a supportive community rooted in female empowerment, but as we see through Sidra’s words running is a way in which to resist socio-cultural barriers:
“Free to Run means a lot to me. Women in Arab and Kurdish society are greatly oppressed by their lack of opportunities, while with just small support, they can achieve a lot. Free to Run supports women to become leaders… this is what I see as a very great achievement in our society.”
Sidra’s words draw out exactly what Free to Run is about: using running, walking and hiking as a tool of empowerment and education. Empowerment can often be read as a buzzword and one difficult to comprehend what it means in reality for the girls on our program. If we accept ‘empowerment’ to mean that it’s a process of becoming stronger and more confident, then we see the impact of Free to Run through Lareen’s words:
“Among our cruel society, I feel proud and confident being able to play sports and run in public places”
However, as Aya told us, it's about more than just supporting the girls themselves to become leaders in their communities, it's also about shifting the attitudes of the wider communities to recognise that women must have the freedom to control their own lives globally:
“Being free to run is a right for women. Right for her to live her life and to do the sports she likes, even at outdoor activities, therefore, I’m here to practice my right, and this is giving me a sense of enjoyment and happiness. Free to Run organization gave a safe space for women to advocate and practice her rights”
Being free to control one’s life also means being free to dream about all the possibilities that should be open for every girl and young woman, as Awaz describes:
“Now I have a place to learn something new, discover my abilities, and develop them.As a girl, in [a] society who refuses to give us the simplest rights, I feel overwhelmed being able to run and do outdoor sports, this is how we can show our society and communities that girls can achieve big things and even change society, not just doing housekeeping.”
Awaz went onto say:
“During our summer vacation, most of us are killing our time doing nothing, and we at this age have much energy. Not using this energy to achieve anything, gives us a sense of frustration and sometimes depression. Now we have a goal and purpose to wake up early for practice, not only for our physical health but for our mental health. In addition to this, my desire to do sport has increased, because my older sister is participating with me, besides spending our time together, she is supporting, motivating, and encouraging me to do my best. Lastly, well, we always hear that behind most of the achievements are men, the beauty of being with Free to Run is that we have a platform that advocates for our rights and focuses on girls and women to participate and carry out several activities. We hope to reach great achievements in the near future.”
Conflict, displacement, and the continued impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have all negatively impacted individuals’ psychological and psychosocial wellbeing. Responding to those needs, particularly in young girls, is vitally important. Running has been proven to improve mental health. ASICS, a footwear company, reported that during the pandemic 82% of runners in the United Kingdom said that running helps to clear their mind and 78% felt more in control as a result of running. They also noted that after just 15 minutes and 9 seconds of exercise, people start to feel a positive uplift. Reading these statistics is one thing, but hearing from Awaz and Sidra really does draw out what it means to be free to run together in Sami Park at 5 am whilst the rest of the city continues to sleep.
“Being free to run makes me feel an indescribable feeling of happiness. When I run together with my friends, time does fly by. I enjoy myself a lot when I run, many girls cannot participate in sports, their parents and society refuse to participate and exercise their right to sports, sometimes I try to communicate with the parents to explain to them what Free to Run does, how it focuses on the girls and supports them to practice their right, as it is at the same time respects their culture and beliefs. And also, I hope when I run that I encourage other girls to participate and be with us” - Sidra
As the introduction to this blog series described, “sport is just the beginning”. The beautiful thing about beginnings is that it means things follow, it means there’s a huge section of the story yet to be written. Whilst many assume running to be simple, I hope these small snippets of stories from our fierce and fearless girls from the Kasnazan community showcase that running is not simple - it involves taking on society’s stereotypes. For the girls from Kasnazan, running with each other is not simply a form of physical activity. Instead, it’s the creation of community, confidence and the desire to challenge. These are pretty beautiful things to set in motion, and we look forward to watching Nora, Awaz, Sidra, Aya and Lareen’s stories continue.
Will you help us to help more Syrian girls from the Kasnazan community? Even the smallest donation can have a huge impact.
