The heroine of the story, Mrs. Wafa, from the Damascus neighborhood of Amara, married and gave birth to a much-awaited-for girl with love and tenderness. Unfortunately, she was struck by a postpartum fever and was treated with folk medicine, which worsened her condition. The fever severely affected the memory center in the brain and, as a result, she suffered an early Alzheimer’s.
The woman currently lives with her niece’s family, who looks after her with much love and affection. Recently, however, her psychological condition worsened. She was no longer willing to take the medicine, throwing it under the bed, which obviously led to an exasperating situation. So, she was in constant conflict with her niece’s younger son, which caused much trouble to the family who soon reached a dead end.
On our first visit, the impression of her was both lovely and sad. The unfortunate woman met us with affection, kindness and a beautiful smile on her face. At the same time, she seemed to have signs of sadness and weakness in her eyes. She confided to us that she had a daughter married abroad with whom she rarely communicated. There and then, the caregiver told us Mrs. Wafa’s story. In brief—
“After the mother’s illness, her husband took the baby girl off and prevented Wafa from visiting her daughter, which made her feel always sad and miserable.”
We also noticed the disagreement between Wafa and the family’s youngest son. Work with the family involved the caregiver’s participation in all activities and exercises, which included teaching the niece appropriate ways of dealing with her aunt, and also the proper way to administer her medicines. “She now takes her medicine regularly, without any problem whatsoever,” said the niece at the end of follow-up visits.
In the beginning, we contacted the attending physician through the caregiver to develop an intervention plan that suits Wafa and meets her medical and psychological needs. The first step was to download memory games on her smartphone, especially that she was so attached to it, and help her solve them to strengthen her memory. She shared with the family’s youngest boy certain games and exercises too difficult for her to solve and, in the process, a close relationship developed between the elderly woman and the little boy.
This was followed by intervention through Rubik’s Cube, crossword exercises, and jigsaw puzzles. In the beginning, the activity took a lot of time, which, soon enough, began to gradually decrease. A smile shone on Wafa’s face each time a Rubik step was completed. Visits followed, after which Wafa started to participate in some household chores, such as pealing and cutting vegetables and fruits, making coffee, etc. Despite the fact that she had not indulged in housework for years, she accomplished these tasks with great happiness and joy. Wafa always repeats this sentence to the volunteer as a song refrain: “Don’t be too long to come and see me.”
The visits and sessions contributed to creating an ambiance of interaction and fun in the life of Wafa. Her relationship with members of her family has become more interactive. Similarly, her social relations improved, as she now enjoys exchanging visits with neighbors, which was observed during the last visit. All this helped Wafa get back into a normal life.
Within the framework of the precautionary measures to limit the spread COVID-19, and as part of the preventive measures taken by the Syrian Society for Social Development, the team carried out a sterilization and disinfection campaign for the Khaled Bin Al-Walid Institute for juvenile delinquents in Rural Damascus on a daily basis.
The latter was carried out in cooperation with the administration of the Khaled Bin Al-Walid Institute within the Child Protection programme.
The aim of the campaign was to protect the health and safety of adolescents in the institute, while emphasizing the need to adhere to safety guidelines in order to protect themselves and others from danger.
In the context of precautionary measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, and with the aim of spreading community awareness about this epidemic and the need to follow preventive measures, the Syrian Society for Social Development team, in cooperation with UNHCR, implemented a sterilization initiative in Ashrafiet Al-Wadi and Jdeidet Al-Wadi, Rural Damascus, within the CLI programme.
During the initiative, the team coordinated with the municipality and party team in the area, and sterilized the most crowded places such as the municipality, dispensaries, public ovens, and public facilities.
Additionally, they distributed awareness messages to the local community, including information on the importance of personal hygiene, the correct use of disinfectants, the importance of social distancing, and the need to avoid crowded places.
Residents expressed their gratitude for the sterilization initiative, and were enthusiastic about implementing the same initiative in schools in order to protect children and ensure their safety before returning to school.
Based on our role in protecting society, and in compliance with the safety instructions under the current conditions and the emergence of COVID-19, the teams of SSSD and UNHCR cooperated with the responsible authorities in Al-Hameh in order to distribute bread. The aim of the latter was to reduce gatherings, especially in public ovens, and was implemented within the Protection and Community Services programme at the Beit El Salam Center in Al-Hameh, Rural Damascus.
Coordination has been made with the concerned authorities to assist in the daily distribution to the residents, whereby all parts of the area were covered within specific hours.
Furthermore, the team distributed face masks and disinfectants to the staff within the baking oven and distribution points, in addition to helping in the preparation and packaging of bread bags, and distributing them to the accredited personnel across the whole area.
As part of the national preventive measures against COVID-19, the Syrian Society for Social Development conducted several awareness raising sessions in Beit Al Salam Center, Al Hameh, Rural Damascus, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The sessions targeted the staff and volunteers working in the center to empower them to follow proper procedures while dealing with the beneficiaries (different groups from the local community) and to educate them about proper handling of the inquiries of the beneficiaries about the virus.
Doctors and specialists volunteered to conduct the above-mentioned sessions. The sessions covered: (1) how the virus spreads and ways of infection, (2) prevention means, (3) illustration of the correct way of washing hands and wearing face masks.
The volunteers attending the session affirmed, “This session was very important and beneficial. We are no longer worried about attending to the inquires of the beneficiaries. Information is power and we are confident about sharing it with them.”
It is worth mentioning that the team followed disinfection measures as detailed.